Cursed
by felix-felicis33
Summary: Kurt and Blaine meet when Kurt transfers to Dalton to escape bullying at McKinley. Kurt panics when they find themselves falling for each other; because nobody can love Kurt, ever. AU Klaine.
1. Prologue

**A/N: **AU due to the supernatural themes (small part of story hence why supernatural is 2nd genre not 1st), also no heart attack for Burt, and Kurt's mother doesn't die until Kurt is a bit older (when is mentioned in the story).

As prologue is short I'll post first chapter tomorrow :)

Thanks for reading!

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><p>Kurt had to yank on the cord twice before, with a groan of protest, the attic hatch opened and the ladder came down. Muttering angrily under his breath and glaring in the direction of the living room downstairs where his father sat watching a football game, Kurt climbed slowly up the ladder, wincing at every ominous-sounding creak. Pulling himself up into the attic and looking around, he was glad that he actually owned some old clothes that he didn't mind getting dirty; everything in the attic space was covered in a thick layer of dust.<p>

He picked his way gingerly over to the nearest pile of junk, glared at the filthy floor for a moment, before sighing and kneeling down next to a pile of boxes. He began to sort through everything, setting aside anything that was to be kept and tossing the things that were to be thrown out into a large box. He cursed under his breath as he picked up a dust-choked piece of fabric that had perhaps once been curtains or a rug and threw it into the rubbish box, looking mournfully down at his hands which were smeared with dust and grime.

"It's going to take days for my skin to recover from this." He groaned, "Why did you suddenly decide the attic needed clearing out anyway, Dad?"

He turned back to the pile of junk and pulled a worn wooden box towards him that had been covered by the filthy fabric he had just thrown away. Fumbling with the gold clasp on the front, he noticed symbols had been carved into the wood around the clasp, strange symbols that looked almost dangerous. He was just about to give up on opening the box for fear of breaking a nail, when suddenly the clasp flicked open and Kurt was able to push the lid open.

There was a great rushing sound and a boiling mass of dense black smoke poured out of the box, Kurt yelled and began to stumble backwards towards the ladder. The smoke began to get denser as it swirled faster, taking on an almost solid form with burning eyes caught in the centre like flies in a spider's web. Slipping a little on the grimy floor and almost twisting an ankle, Kurt backed away from it towards the ladder, unable to take his eyes off the indescribable thing that was advancing towards him.

He never made it to the ladder.


	2. Chapter 1

Four years later. 

So this is Dalton Academy.

Of course, Kurt had seen the prestigious school when he had been shown around by a senior student during the early days of his transfer from McKinley, but it was completely different being here as a student. The long, grand corridor was a sea of navy and red blazers, the air full of the sounds of students chatting or calling out greetings to others. No cat-calls, no jeering, and not a locker slam to be heard. The anti-bullying rules that were enforced at the school were the main reason Kurt transferred, but Dalton also had the advantage of offering boarding. Kurt's home in Lima was a little over an hour's drive away, which was manageable each day, but Kurt chose to board as it enabled him to distance himself from his Dad; he was glad the booming of his Dad's garage made it possible for him to be able to afford it.

Kurt examined his timetable, scanning Monday's column, realising he had English next, but where were the English classrooms? He vaguely remembered their location from his tour but he didn't recognise where he currently was. Pulling out the map he was given, he tried to figure out where he was. Struggling to find the corridor he was currently walking along on the map, he kept following it, hoping to come across something he could use to find his position on the map.

The corridor opened out onto a majestic staircase with a beautiful, circular glass ceiling above it. He made his way slowly down it, the map and his English class forgotten for the moment.

'I can't believe this is my school.' He thought, as he trailed his hand along the dark banister.

A couple of boys discussing their next class as they passed Kurt jolted him out of his state of awe, reminding him he still didn't know his way to class. Giving up on the map, Kurt looked up at the students descending the stairs beside him, his eyes landing on a short, dark haired boy who had just passed him.

"Excuse me!" He hurried forwards, catching up to the boy just as he reached the bottom of the stairs. The boy turned to look up at him and Kurt's heart stuttered.

The boy was beautiful; large, hazel eyes fringed by the longest eyelashes Kurt had ever seen on another guy, full lips, a strong jaw, and curly, dark hair slicked back with way too much gel. His eyes widened a little on seeing Kurt, his lips parting, and for a second they stood staring at each other, speechless.

Kurt pulled himself out of his trance with great effort, "Hey, I'm new here and I'm a bit lost. Could you point me in the direction of the English department?"

The boy smiled and Kurt's heart skipped another beat; he had the most beautiful and contagious smile.

"My name's Blaine," He said, holding out his hand, "Blaine Anderson."

Kurt smiled and shook his hand, "Kurt Hummel."

Blaine stepped back onto the stairs, "Which room do you have English in?"

Kurt fumbled his timetable out of his pocket, trying to hide his shaking hands, "Um, room 23."

"Oh, you're in my class then!" Blaine flashed another smile that Kurt couldn't help but return. "I'll walk you there and give you some tips on finding your way around Dalton. I got lost so many times in my first week here."

They set off along another corridor, Blaine explaining how to find your way around the school.

"I don't know what the school you came from was like, but Westerville High, the school I used to go to, was less than half the size of this place."

Kurt looked over at Blaine, "You're a transfer as well?"

Blaine nodded, "I transferred last year. Westerville wasn't the best of schools."

Kurt sensed that there was a much bigger story behind Blaine's transfer but didn't push the subject. He cast around for another topic, "Do you board here or are you just a day student?"

"I board," Blaine replied, as they went down another staircase, "I live an hour or so from here and boarding is just easier than driving every day. What about you?"

"I'm boarding as well, for the same reasons as you. I live out in Lima."

Blaine smiled at him, "I didn't realise we had a new boarder!"

"I arrived pretty late last night, that's probably why." Kurt explained.

Blaine paused outside a classroom with the number 23 fixed to the door, "Looks like we'll be seeing a lot more of each other then." He indicated the classroom, "We have arrived at our English class, Mr. Hummel."

* * *

><p>"So, were you in any clubs or sports teams at your old school?"<p>

Kurt and Blaine joined the rest of their class as they filed out the door; glad school was over for the day.

Kurt debated about mentioning Glee club for a moment. He didn't want to appear like a loser in front of Blaine, but he had been friendly enough so far, why would he suddenly laugh at him now?

He took a deep breath, "I was in my school's Glee club."

Blaine stopped so suddenly that another student walking behind them almost crashed into him.

"You were in Glee club? You sing?"

Blaine's face was lit up in an excited smile and Kurt relaxed, nobody at McKinley reacted that way when they discovered you were in Glee. Clearly, Dalton was different, or at least Blaine was.

"Yeah," Kurt replied, "I was their countertenor."

"You're a...? Ok, wow, the Warblers haven't had a countertenor in years; you have to join, only if you want to, of course." Blaine said excitedly.

Kurt frowned, confused. "Warblers?"

"Oh, that's what our show choir is called. If you want to audition to join, we have a meeting starting in..." Blaine squinted at his watch, "Five minutes. You can just come with me to the meeting."

Singing was Kurt's way of escaping everything. He had always loved singing but had taken it up more seriously, spending hours practicing, after that day in the attic when thirteen year old Kurt had curiously opened that old wooden box with the strange symbols carved into the wood...

"I'd love to audition!"

Blaine beamed at him, "I'll take you to the choir room."

Grabbing hold of Kurt's hand, Blaine jogged back in the direction they had walked to English class, pulling Kurt along with him. Kurt's heart and mind raced from the feel of Blaine's hand in his.

They reached the stretch of corridor near the grand staircase where they had met earlier. A door stood open through which the sounds of voices and then a gavel could be heard.

"The meeting's about to start!"

Blaine tugged Kurt through the door and into a large room which had a long wooden desk as a focal point. Three Dalton students sat behind the desk, one of them holding a gavel. The rest of who Kurt presumed were the Warblers, were sitting on leather couches, looking around at the sound of Kurt and Blaine's arrival.

Before anyone could say anything, Blaine spoke.

"Fellow Warblers, this is Kurt, he's new to Dalton and would like to audition for the Warblers."

"Hello, Kurt." The boy with the gavel smiled at him, "Welcome to Dalton. I assume you have a song prepared?"

Kurt didn't, but there were several songs he had sung so many times, he probably sang them in his sleep.

"I do."

Stepping forward, he began to sing.

_Something has changed within me,_

_Something is not the same_

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><p>For an awfully long moment that felt like hours, there was silence as everyone stared at him, Blaine with wide eyes and his jaw almost scraping the floor. Finally, gavel-boy spoke,<p>

"Welcome to the Warblers, Kurt." 

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><p><strong>AN: **Huge thank you to everyone who reviewed/favourited/alerted and, most importantly, read this story so far, you guys made my day!

I'm not totally sure how often I'm going to update this. I finished writing chapter 8 today but university goes back tomorrow so I'm not sure how much time I'll have for writing. I'll stick with updates twice a week just now and see how that goes.

Few points about the chapter: I know there's some debate about whether Dalton is a boarding school or not, I've made it both a day and boarding school, Westerville High doesn't exist as far as I know although I think I've seen it used in a few other stories, and finally the song Kurt sings is 'Defying Gravity' from Wicked.

Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 2

"Do the Warblers do show choir competitions? I've never seen you at any of the ones my Glee club was at."

Kurt and Blaine were sitting together in the boarder's dining room at a table with some of the Warblers having dinner. Kurt had been braced for typical school cafeteria food but it was actually pretty good; he guessed a school like this could afford decent chefs.

Blaine took a sip of water, "We do, and we won our last Sectionals competition but were forced to pull out of Regionals at the last minute when half of us came down with a virus." He set his glass down on the table, "We were probably going to be competing against each other. What was your Glee club called?"

Kurt stabbed at a piece of carrot with his fork, "The New Directions."

Blaine frowned slightly as he thought, "That's from-"

"McKinley." Kurt finished for him.

Blaine was silent for a minute, concentrating on his food, and then he raised his head up to look at Kurt again. "Do you miss them?"

Kurt thought of Mercedes, who he had gotten friendly with before, in a panic, he had been forced to stop returning her calls, stop walking to class with her, and start sitting up the back of the choir room by himself. He thought of Rachel and how lucky it was that he was able to cut off their friendship on the pretence that she was his competition for solos and they were both divas at times. He had been careful that the Glee members were nothing more than acquaintances or casual friends and had spent a lot of meetings in silence, sitting by himself, playing on his phone.

"No, I don't miss them. I hated that school; I needed to get out of there."

Realising he may have said too much, Kurt clamped his mouth shut and fixed his attention on his food.

Blaine was still watching him, "What was so bad about it?"

Kurt hunched over his plate, pushing food around it with his fork. "Just...the standard of teaching was poor, the teachers didn't care, and the vast majority of students were like sheep to the bitchy cheerleaders and the Neandertals that were the football team. A student could be beaten to a pulp in front of them and they wouldn't bat an eyelid." Kurt snapped his mouth shut, once again he had said too much. But there was something about Blaine that made him want to tell him everything.

Blaine just stared at him, an unreadable expression in his eyes; Kurt felt a blush staining his cheeks.

"Are you finished eating?" Blaine asked softly.

Kurt nodded, pushing his plate away, knowing he couldn't escape the upcoming conversation.

"Let's go upstairs," Blaine said quietly, standing up. "We'll be able to talk in peace there."

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><p>Kurt followed Blaine up the stairs to where the boarder's bedrooms and common room were. Blaine peered around the doorway of the common room, saw there were a couple of boys inside who had obviously finished dinner early, and shook his head. He led the way to the bedroom he shared with Wes, knowing it would be empty as Wes was still at dinner. Sitting down on his bed and indicating that Kurt should do the same, Blaine sent a quick text to Wes telling him to stay out of their room for a while, before turning to face Kurt.<p>

Kurt was perched on the edge of the bed, staring down at his hands which were twisted together on his lap.

"Kurt, why did you transfer to Dalton?"

Kurt bit his lip, still looking down at his hands and didn't answer.

Blaine shuffled a little closer to him on the bed, "Kurt, were you bullied at your old school?"

Blaine had been suspecting it since English class. Kurt seemed quiet and withdrawn, he flinched when someone stumbled beside his desk and had to catch themselves on the back of his chair, he winced when another student had slammed their locker shut, and had kept glancing around nervously when they had been in the dining hall. Blaine had been bullied at his old school and had transferred to Dalton because of it, so he recognised the signs.

"Yes, I was bullied, pretty badly, one guy even threatened to kill me."

Blaine gasped at this, he couldn't help it, and Kurt turned his eyes up to meet his.

"I got the standard slushy tosses for being in Glee club, but I also got the hateful slurs flung at me constantly in corridors and classrooms, got tossed in dumpsters, shoved into lockers..." Kurt held back a sob, squeezing his eyes shut to try and hold back the tears that the memories had caused.

Blaine moved closer to Kurt and, after a second's hesitation, placed an arm around his shoulders. Kurt sat rigid for a moment, before he lent into Blaine's side, tears now sliding down his face. Even though Kurt had only met Blaine today, he felt like he could trust him more than he had ever trusted anyone other than his parents. It sounded silly but there was something about Blaine that Kurt couldn't describe.

Blaine held Kurt for a few minutes, rubbing his arm and just letting him cry. When Kurt's tears stopped, Blaine spoke.

"I was bullied as well, similar stuff to what you got but minus the slushies. I was also locked in a janitor's closet for hours and got beaten up outside a school dance because I had taken another guy as my date."

Kurt sat up straighter, "You mean, you're gay...as well?"

Blaine nodded, his eyes still on Kurt.

"Kurt, I've been through everything you have and Dalton is an amazing school, no one here will judge you, there are several other openly gay students here. It will take some time but it will get better for you, I promise."

Kurt's eyes met Blaine's.

"You'll soon stop flinching every time a locker door is slammed, you'll stop having nightmares, and you'll start being yourself again. Until then, I'm here to help you get through this."

Kurt held Blaine's gaze, a smile spreading across his face, "Thank you."

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><p><strong>AN: **Once again, huge thank you to everyone reading/reviewing/favouriting/getting alerts for this story!

Quick note on rooming: I've decided that they share rooms with another student but Kurt has his own room as he is a mid-semester transfer.

I'll update with chapter 3 on Sunday!

Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 3

Kurt's first week at Dalton had flown past. The classes were more interesting and challenging, the teachers actually knew what they were talking about, all the students were friendly, and Kurt found himself relaxing more as the week went on.

The Warblers were completely different to New Directions; they were run by a council of three senior students (Wes, David, and Thad) rather than by a teacher, nobody generally spoke much during meetings (other than the council), except when they were discussing something, unlike in New Directions where people were constantly arguing, and everyone took part in the a cappella unless they had received a solo from the council. Kurt loved being part of a team like he was with the Warblers, unlike with New Directions where he had sometimes been forgotten or ignored. He quickly became friendly with the other Warblers, but still spent most of his time with Blaine. They had a few classes together, sat together at meal times, helped each other with their homework, and hung out in the common room or watched a movie in one of their rooms during their free time. It was always at the back of Kurt's mind when he and Blaine were together that he needed to be careful of how close they were getting, but Kurt couldn't help himself. Blaine was smart, funny, caring, sweet, and great fun to be around. They liked the same movies, shared a love of Vogue and musicals, and loved singing along to the radio. Distantly, Kurt knew he was falling for Blaine, but he forced himself not to think about it.

On Friday evening, Kurt's father Burt called him, suggesting he spend the weekend at home. Kurt tried to refuse at first, saying he had a lot of homework and needed to use Dalton's library, but Burt wasn't having it.

"Kurt, when have you ever let homework pile up so you have masses to do on the weekend? Never, you'd never do it just in case there was a sale on at the mall that you needed to go to."

Kurt sighed, "Yes, but Dalton is different from McKinley, Dad. They give you a lot more homework for over the weekend."

"We have internet at home you can use, everything is on the internet these days, I'm sure you can find what you need on there." Burt paused, "Don't you want to come home and see your old Dad?"

Kurt leaned his head back against the wall, he did want to see his Dad, but one of the reasons he came to Dalton was to distance himself from him.

"I guess I have no choice then, you're just going to argue with me until I say yes."

Burt said nothing to this, too used to how his son behaved.

"I'll see you later tonight then."

"I suppose you will." Kurt replied, before hanging up and tossing the phone down onto his bed with a groan. He hated having to act this way towards his Dad, but he had no choice. Mentally cursing his thirteen year old self, he began to pack some of his things that he'd need for over the weekend.

Kurt was just zipping his bag shut when there was a knock at the door.

"Come in!"

The door opened and Blaine strode in, a wide smile on his face.

"Hey, Kurt! What are your plans for the weekend? Want to go grab a coffee tomorrow morning?"

Kurt desperately wanted to say yes and was glad he had an excuse not to go, coffee sounded too much like a date and Kurt couldn't date anyone, especially Blaine.

"Sorry, my Dad wants me home for the weekend." He swiped his phone off his bed and slid it into his pocket. "I'd better leave now before it gets too late."

Blaine quickly hid his disappointment, "No problem, enjoy your weekend at home and I'll see you when you get back."

Kurt slung his bag over his shoulder and snatched up his car keys, following Blaine out of his room.

"See you Sunday!" He smiled and returned Blaine's wave before heading downstairs and out to his car.

* * *

><p>"How was your first week?"<p>

Kurt stared down into his tea, swirling it around the mug.

"It was fine," He shrugged, "Better than being at McKinley."

Burt took another gulp of tea. "Made any new friends?"

"Yeah, a few, everyone's pretty friendly."

Burt resisted the urge to roll his eyes, having a conversation with Kurt these days was like trying to draw blood from a stone.

"What are your friends like?" He persisted, "What are their names?"

Kurt sipped his tea for a moment. "There's Wes, Nick, Jeff, David, Thad, Blaine..."

Burt didn't miss the small smile when Kurt said Blaine's name. "Tell me about this Blaine kid."

Kurt's head shot up and for the first time since they had sat down, he looked at his Dad. "He's just some guy in my English class and another member of the Warblers."

Burt smirked, "Oh, I think he's more than just 'some guy'."

Kurt slammed his half-drunk tea down on the coffee table and leapt to his feet. "Once again, Dad you are completely wrong. Blaine is just a guy I'm becoming friends with, just like I am with the rest of the Warblers. I've had enough talking for tonight, I'm going to bed."

He strode across the room and ran down the stairs to his bedroom, slamming the door behind him and throwing himself down on the bed. He hated having to pretend to be someone he was not around his Dad and he hated that his Dad was right about Blaine.

* * *

><p>Blaine sighed as he crossed out another set of incorrect workings for the Chemistry problem he was trying to solve. He couldn't stop thinking about Kurt, which was stupid seeing as he hadn't even known him for a week. But there was something about him that was different, and Blaine found himself crushing on the older boy. He was glad he'd been able to skip a year of school due to his excellent grades; otherwise he wouldn't have been in any of Kurt's classes.<p>

'And they'll put you back to the year you're supposed to be in if you let your grades slip because you're daydreaming about Kurt, Blaine. Focus!'

He sighed again and started working through the problem another time, he was half-way through when he realised the numbers weren't making any sense.

"Dammit!" He threw his pen down and dropped his head into his hands.

"Having trouble with your homework, Blaine? Never thought I'd see the day."

Wes dropped down onto his desk chair and moved closer to Blaine's desk so he could see what he was working on. "Chemistry? But you got 100% in your last test! How can you be-?"

Wes broke off, a smirk spreading slowly across his face. "Oh."

"Oh what?" Blaine mumbled into his hands.

"I see what the problem is," Wes couldn't wait to tell the others so they could tease him. "You've got a crush."

Blaine's head snapped up, his cheeks turning pink. "No I don't, I'm just tired and can't concentrate properly."

"Then why are you blushing?"

Blaine turned his face away, pretending to rummage through his bag for something, his cheeks flaming.

"I'm not blushing; it's just warm in this room."

Wes's smirk widened, "Uh huh, sure it is."

Blaine continued to search for nothing in his bag for a few moments.

"Missing Kurt?"

Blaine spun around to face Wes, his cheeks still flushed. "What? Wh-why would I?"

"No reason." Wes got to his feet and walked over to the door, "See you later, lover boy!"

* * *

><p>Kurt was sitting at the kitchen table staring moodily into a bowl of muesli and fruit when his Dad walked in.<p>

"Morning, Kurt!"

Kurt grunted in reply.

Burt poured himself a coffee and made toast before sitting down across from Kurt who was stirring his cereal.

Burt took a bite of toast, "What do you want to do today?"

"I assumed," Kurt poked at a piece of strawberry with his spoon, "that you would be going to work in the garage and leaving me alone all day. That's what you do every other weekend."

"Kurt," Burt said warningly, "drop the attitude."

"This is not an attitude, this is the truth."

"Kurt-"

Kurt stood up, "I'm going for a walk."

Abandoning his cereal, he pulled on his coat and stepped outside, slamming the door shut on his Dad's voice calling after him.

Kurt strode blindly down the street, his hands stuffed in the pockets of his coat, and his eyes on the ground. He wished he had come up with a better excuse to stay at Dalton. He knew he wouldn't be able to get away with never seeing his Dad, and he couldn't bring himself to do that anyway, he would never see his Mum again and he didn't want it to be the same with his Dad. But, if he spent too much time with his Dad and stopped acting like he didn't care about anyone, then he would never see his Dad again...

_Kurt lay panting on the dusty attic floor, the thing that he had taken to be a demon, had vanished, leaving a rancid smell of hot, rotting garbage behind. Its words still echoed in his head._

'_It can't be true,' Kurt told himself, as he shakily pushed himself up into a sitting position. "I'm just hallucinating; it is really hot up here. Just hallucinated..._

_He was woken up in the middle of the night by his Dad's howls of grief. Heart thumping in terror, he followed the sound to his parent's bedroom. His Dad spotted him and pulled him out of the room, closing the door behind him, but not before Kurt caught a glimpse inside._

_What the demon had said had come true, his Mum was dead._

Wiping at the tears that were running down his face, Kurt ducked off the street into a small park and staggered over to the trees, collapsing to the ground at the base of the largest one where he was hidden from the view of the street. He pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them, dropping his head onto his knees and not caring, for once, that his tears were staining his jeans.

He wasn't sure how much longer he could cope with this. The only thing that kept him going was the thought that when he was eighteen and had left school, he could move away for college. He had always wanted to go to New York, and there he could live by himself and he would be miles away from his Dad; he would be able to get away with just a phone call every now and then. In just over a year's time he would be on his own, the way he had to be.

* * *

><p>"Kurt! I wasn't expecting to see you back until later!"<p>

Blaine had glanced up from discussing possible Sectionals songs with Wes, David, and Thad to see Kurt heading towards them, weaving his way through the couches and tables scattered throughout the boarder's common room.

Blaine ignored Wes nudging him with his elbow as Kurt sat down next to him.

"How was your weekend?"

Kurt shrugged, "Nothing special. How was yours?"

"I mostly did homework," Beside him, Wes sniggered, "So my weekend was nothing special either."

Blaine glared at Wes until he stopped smirking suggestively at the pair of them and went back to discussing set lists with David and Thad.

"Want to go get that coffee you couldn't manage yesterday?"

Kurt stared at him, his expression unreadable and just when Blaine was starting to panic that Kurt was going to say no, Kurt smiled at him.

"Sure, let's go."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Aww, Blainers has a crush!

Oh, and in case it wasn't clear, the italics is a flashback.

Again, huge thank you to everyone reading/reviewing/favouriting/getting alerts for this story! Extra thanks to Patricia Sage for reviewing all the chapters so far and for being so sweet!

I just want to tell everyone reading that I don't have a beta for this story, but I try to make sure that there's no spelling/grammar errors but some may still slip through so if I disgrace the English language in any way feel free to call me out for it.

Thanks for reading, next update will be Thursday!


	5. Chapter 4

Blaine slid into a chair across from Kurt and popped the lid off his coffee. "This is my favourite coffee shop in the area. Nick and I spent days and a lot of money trying to find somewhere to get a good coffee near Dalton." He smiled as he remembered that week. "We drank a lot of crappy coffee before we found this place."

Kurt swallowed a mouthful of his coffee. "Well your suffering was worth it, this coffee is fantastic."

There were a couple of minutes of comfortable silence as the boys enjoyed their coffee.

"Do you ever go home on the weekends?" Kurt wrapped his hands around his coffee, his eyes on Blaine.

Blaine nodded. "Sometimes, not very often though. My parents have to travel a lot for business and they try and do as much of that as possible during the school semester so they don't have to go away when it's the holidays. My older brother is away at college, so most weekends there's no one home."

"Which college is your brother at?" Kurt asked him.

"Harvard," Blaine replied. "He's studying law."

Kurt raised his eyebrows. "Wow, impressive. Are you aiming for Ivy League as well?"

Blaine shrugged. "I know that's where my parents want me to go, they want me to study medicine or law but I've always wanted to go to New York and study musical theatre."

"That's what I want to do!" Kurt set his coffee down and smiled across the table at Blaine. "It's been my dream for years."

Blaine grinned at him. "Hopefully we'll both be heading to New York together!"

Kurt took a quick drink of coffee but not before Blaine saw his smile slip slightly. Before Blaine could ask him if everything was alright, Kurt spoke.

"Do your parents know that you want to go to New York?"

Blaine nodded. "I told them a few years ago. I think my Mum thought I was just going through some sort of phase and when I was a few years older I would realise I could 'do better'. My Dad wasn't impressed, h-he struggled when I told my parents I was gay a few months before, and he still wasn't completely comfortable with me being gay and I think this was just another reminder for him, like guys have to be gay to be interested in musical theatre." Blaine rolled his eyes.

"How are things with your Dad now?"

"He's accepted who I am now, he was never homophobic but he just struggled with having a gay son. I think he was just uneducated about it." Blaine shrugged.

Kurt nodded slowly.

Blaine watched Kurt hesitantly. "How are your parents with you being gay?"

"My Dad's fine with it, he's very supportive."

"And your Mum?" Blaine asked nervously.

Kurt took his time swallowing his coffee and setting his cup back down on the table, his hand trembling slightly. "My Mum died when I was thirteen, I only came out to my Dad last year." Kurt said in a small voice, his eyes downcast. "My Dad said he had known I was gay for a while, so I guess my Mum probably knew as well."

Blaine felt terrible for bringing up a subject that was painful for Kurt. "I'm so sorry, Kurt." Without thinking about it he reached across the small table and covered Kurt's hand with his. Kurt stiffened but didn't pull his hand back, blushing slightly as he raised his eyes to meet Blaine's.

"It's ok, you didn't know."

Blaine could feel the heat in his face as they stared at each other.

Kurt finally broke the silence, "We should probably um, get back to Dalton."

Blaine nodded, reluctantly removing his hand off Kurt's, standing up and following him out the door.

* * *

><p>Kurt and Blaine went to their separate rooms when they got back to Dalton. Kurt's heart was still racing from the moment in the coffee shop. On the way back, Blaine had brought up their latest English assignment and they had discussed that until they had headed for their rooms when they reached the boarder's wing of the school. Kurt couldn't help but over think the simple gesture of Blaine placing his hand on his. Had it just been an act of friendship? Him wanting to offer some comfort after bringing up his Mum? Or was there something more behind it? Blaine's face had been a little flushed, could that mean he liked Kurt as more than a friend?<p>

'Not that it matters if he does,' Kurt thought, as he lay back on his bed. 'You can't risk dating him.'

Kurt groaned and rubbed his hand over his face, wishing, as he had done countless times before, that he had a normal life.

* * *

><p>Over the next couple of weeks Kurt managed to avoid going home on the weekends as his Dad was busy with work one week and the Warblers performed at a nursing home the Saturday after. Kurt and Blaine went out for coffee a few more times, which resulted in teasing from Wes and a few of the other Warblers, but Kurt never noticed any more signs from Blaine that he wanted to be more than friends; something that Kurt was both relieved of and disappointed about.<p>

When they returned from one of their coffee outings one Sunday morning they found the boarder's common room completely empty.

"Where is everyone?"

Kurt sat down on a couch, Blaine dropping down next to him.

Blaine shrugged, looking around the deserted room. "I know Wes and a number of others are in the library, they have a big assignment due tomorrow and I think there is a football game on today so everyone else is probably at that."

Kurt turned to face Blaine. "A football game? Why aren't you there watching it? I thought you loved football."

Blaine just shrugged again and looked away towards the windows. Kurt watched him curiously until he turned back to face him and smiled. "Want to help me choose a song for sectionals? Wes said if I could find something good that wasn't Katy Perry he'd let us perform it."

Kurt grinned, knowing Blaine's love of Katy Perry. "I'll just go grab my iPod. Meet you back here in a few minutes?"

When Kurt arrived back in the common room Blaine was already there searching through his iPod playlist. Kurt sat next to him and peered over his shoulder, he snorted.

"I doubt Wes would agree to Pink."

Blaine grinned. "He has in the past, but I wasn't thinking of choosing Pink anyway."

Kurt shook his head disbelievingly as he scrolled through his playlist.

"I was actually thinking about something from Wicked, but I'm not sure Wes would go for that either. So, there." Blaine stuck his tongue out at him.

"How old are you? Eight?"

Blaine lifted his chin. "Ten, actually."

Kurt fought back a smile. "Easy mistake to make, you're the height of an eight year old."

Blaine pouted and Kurt had to laugh.

"So, what do you think we should sing?" Blaine asked, serious again.

Kurt considered and quickly discarded several songs as he searched through his iPod. "How about Relient K's 'The Best Thing'?" Kurt asked. "It's a song that has been on my mind lately."

Blaine didn't reply at first but just stared at the iPod in Kurt's hand. Eventually he raised his head. "Isn't that a song about love?"

"Uh yeah, I-I guess it is." Kurt replied, his eyes on Blaine.

Kurt's heart stuttered as Blaine's eyes flicked down to his lips then back up to hold his gaze again. His breathing came fast and irregular as he subconsciously licked his lips. He didn't know who started leaning in first or if they both moved at the same time, but the next thing Kurt knew Blaine's lips were brushing softly against his and Kurt was kissing him back. Blaine rested a hand on Kurt's hip and the other on his arm, and Kurt tilted his head to the side, parting his lips and deepening the kiss whilst raising a hand to gently cup Blaine's face. Kurt was floating in a state of pure bliss; the feel of Blaine's lips on his, the taste of him...

They broke apart, breathing heavily and with their foreheads almost touching. Kurt slowly opened his eyes and met Blaine's bright hazel eyes gazing at him, looking deep inside him, into the true Kurt that he had kept buried for years, the Kurt that somehow, Blaine could see.

"Kurt..." Blaine whispered, tracing Kurt's cheekbone with his thumb.

Kurt shivered, closing his eyes again, and just as Blaine began to lean in, he froze. "Blaine, I-I can't do this."

Blaine pulled back, his eyes full of hurt. It broke Kurt's heart to do this, but he had to, no matter how much he didn't want to, he had to. Kurt bit his lip, trying desperately to hold back the tears threatening to spill down his face.

"I-I just-" Shaking his head, Kurt staggered to his feet and ran out the room, only just making it to the hallway before the tears fell. 

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Yay for Klaine kiss! :( for after the kiss.

I decided it would be nice for Blaine to have a father who is comfortable with him being gay, I read so many stories where he isn't accepting of Blaine so I felt like a change. But him struggling with it initially fits in with the 'Blaine building a car with his Dad' in Season 2.

If you don't know the song 'The Best Thing' by Relient K I recommend listening or reading the lyrics as I think it fits for Kurt and Blaine.

I realised something today, I never said that there is no Carole/Burt in this story. So yeah, unless it happens later in the story, there is no Carole/Burt.

My updating schedule I've got going just now is working nicely so I'm going to stick with updating on Thursdays and Sundays.

Huge thank you to everyone reading/reviewing/favouriting/getting alerts for this story (yes, I'm going to say this at the end of every chapter as you've no idea how happy it makes me when I see how much you guys are enjoying this story).


	6. Chapter 5

Blaine lay flat on his back on his bed staring up at the ceiling as the sun moved across his room, the shadows changing position. It had taken him half an hour to leave the common room after Kurt had run out. He had sat there staring at nothing, his mind blank, not even noticing the tears on his face. When he'd finally been able to stand, he'd walked to his room, collapsed on the bed, and hadn't moved since.

"Blaine, are you alright?"

Wes's voice, Blaine hadn't even heard him come in.

"Blaine?"

Blaine turned his head to face his friend, making the mistake of licking his dry lips; he could still taste Kurt on them. Kurt...

"Blaine, have you been crying?" Wes's voice was filled with worry.

Blaine sat up and scrubbed at his face with his hands. "I'm fine." He told Wes, his voice cracking.

Wes shook his head. "No, you're not. What happened? Come on, you can tell me anything, you know that."

Blaine stared down at the carpet, fighting against the tears as the memory he had managed to keep behind a locked door in his mind spilled out. "Kurt-" Blaine broke off when a tear fell. He pressed his lips together tightly to try and stop them trembling.

"Kurt? Is he ok? He hasn't been hurt has he?"

Wes was one of the few others that Kurt had told about the bullying he had experienced before he came to Dalton.

"It's not that," Blaine choked out. "We-we kissed...earlier today."

For a second or two Wes smiled, looking ready to offer Blaine a mixture of congratulations and teasing, then his face fell and he looked concerned and a little confused.

"What happened that's made you so upset?"

Blaine sighed, his shoulders slumping. "He ran out the room afterwards saying 'Blaine, I can't do this'. So, he clearly didn't want to kiss me and he doesn't feel the same way I do."

Wes patted Blaine's arm sympathetically as Blaine resumed his deadpan stare, this time at the carpet instead of the ceiling.

"Did he kiss you back?"

Blaine replied robotically. "Yeah."

Wes frowned. "That doesn't sound like he didn't want to kiss you or that he doesn't feel the same way to me." He paused. "Otherwise he wouldn't have kissed you back and him saying 'I can't' sounds like there is some reason he can't be with you. Maybe his bullying...maybe he hasn't recovered enough to deal with a relationship yet."

Blaine thought over Wes's words, they made sense to him. Kurt had only been at Dalton a few weeks so he probably still hadn't fully recovered from the bullying. Blaine knew he would have struggled with dating someone back when he had first transferred. He remembered the blush on Kurt's face the first time they had coffee together, Kurt's lips moving against his, his hand on Blaine's face, Kurt's heart racing when Blaine pulled him closer, him shivering when Blaine caressed his face, the tears in his eyes when he ran out the room...

"Maybe you're right." Blaine mumbled.

Wes frowned, leaning closer to Blaine. "Sorry?"

"I think you may be right." Blaine said a little louder.

"I usually am."

Blaine rolled his eyes, replaying what had happened after their kiss in his head. Kurt had wanted to kiss Blaine and there was some reason other than him not liking Blaine that had caused him to run off afterwards, Blaine was sure of it.

* * *

><p>It took a good few hours for the tears to stop and the rest of the afternoon for Kurt to even consider doing something other than lying on his bed with the image of Blaine's hurt face tattooed in his mind. What had he been thinking suggesting that song? Once again he had spoken his true feelings without thinking, like he always seemed to do when he was with Blaine, and now Blaine was risking being dragged into something he knew nothing about, something that would kill him if Kurt wasn't careful. Kurt wasn't stupid, he had seen the look on Blaine's face just before he ran out the room; Blaine's feelings towards him were more than friendship. The worst part was Kurt couldn't even bring himself to wish he had never met Blaine. Meeting Blaine had been the best thing that had happened to him since before his Mum had died, and the only time he forgot about his curse and was Kurt again was when he was with Blaine. And now Kurt would have to hurt him...<p>

Anger surged through him and he grabbed the closest object to him - a math textbook - and threw it across the room with as much force as he could muster. It slammed against the wall with enough force to leave a mark before dropping to the floor with a thud that Kurt knew they would hear in the room below.

There was a series of loud knocks at the door.

"Kurt?" Wes's voice called through the door, sounding worried.

The blood was still rushing through his veins and there was an angry buzzing in his head, like trapped wasps.

"What?" He yelled back.

There was silence for a moment, and then Wes said hesitantly. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Kurt thought about telling him to leave him alone, but his anger had fizzed out as quickly as it had come and he just felt depressed again. "Yeah, sure come in." He flopped down onto his bed just as Wes walked in, looking around nervously.

Kurt kicked his chair out from behind his desk and Wes sat down facing Kurt, his eyes searching Kurt's face. Suddenly, Kurt remembered that Wes was Blaine's roommate and that the two were close friends and Blaine had probably told him everything that had happened earlier.

Kurt decided to get straight to the point. "You're here to talk about Blaine aren't you?"

Wes nodded slowly. "That and I heard a massive bang coming from your room." His eyes travelled over the marked wall and the textbook lying on the floor.

"I'll get the wall fixed." Kurt mumbled.

Wes rested his elbows on his knees. "Blaine's really upset, Kurt and I know you are too. I don't know if it's the bullying that caused you to run out on him or-"

"It wasn't because of the bulling." As soon as the words were out of his mouth Kurt could've kicked himself, it would have made an easy excuse.

"Then what was it? I know how you feel about Blaine, Kurt you didn't just do that because you don't feel the same way Blaine does."

Kurt shook his head, twisting his hands together on his lap.

Wes stood up. "If you don't want to talk to me about it at least go to Blaine."

Kurt nodded. "I'll talk to Blaine."

"Please do. I'll see you at dinner." Wes smiled and nodded at him before leaving the room.

"Dinner...right."

Snatching up his textbook and returning it to his desk, Kurt stepped into his bathroom to tidy himself up before he had to head down to dinner.

* * *

><p>Blaine hadn't wanted to go to dinner, eating was the last thing he felt like doing right now but Wes had persuaded him and he now found himself sitting beside Trent, toying with a plate of food he wasn't going to eat. Since he had sat down at the table ten minutes ago his friends had all asked him what was wrong at least twice each and after he refused to tell anyone anything they had resorted to shooting him concerned glances every now and then.<p>

A tray was sat down beside his and Blaine looked up to see Kurt sitting down next to him. Nobody would know from looking at Kurt that he had had anything but a nice, normal day, only Blaine could see the slight redness around his eyes.

Kurt gave him a small smile. "Hey." He said, quietly.

Blaine cleared his throat. "Hey." He managed to return the smile, though it was somewhat strained.

Kurt pushed his food around his plate for several long minutes whilst Blaine sat tensed up waiting for him to speak. Out the corner of his eye he saw Kurt bite his lip and turn to face him.

"Can we go somewhere quiet to talk?"

"Don't you want to eat first?" Blaine asked him.

Kurt shook his head. "Not hungry."

Blaine pushed his plate away and rose to his feet.

"We can talk in my room." Kurt told him, leading the way out of the dining hall.

Blaine could feel Wes's eyes on the pair of them as they pushed open the doors and headed out into the corridor.

Neither of them spoke until they were in Kurt's room, Kurt perched on the edge of his bed and Blaine sitting on his desk chair.

Kurt took a deep breath and locked eyes with Blaine. "I'm sorry, Blaine. I'm sorry for running out on you and I'm sorry for leading you on."

Blaine froze, not sure he heard him right. "Leading me...on?"

Kurt's face was a blank mask, his eyes fixed unseeingly on Blaine's. "I think I led you to believe that I thought of you as more than a friend, but I don't."

"Right." Blaine managed to say.

"I really don't want this to ruin our friendship, Blaine." The emotionless mask on Kurt's face was gone, and now Kurt was looking at him pleadingly. "I think we should just forget it ever happened and just stay friends."

Blaine nodded. "Ok. Sure. Fine."

"I have an assignment to finish; I'll see you at breakfast tomorrow." Kurt said bluntly, all emotion wiped from his face again.

Blaine couldn't get his brain and mouth to work to reply so he left the room without saying anything. He lent against the wall beside Kurt's door, his legs too unstable to carry him back to his room. A sob came from inside Kurt's room just as Blaine started walking away from the door. 

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **:( Oh, Kurt.

Trent is my favourite Warbler so he'll be in the background a lot, just thought I'd mention that, I don't know why.

Huge thanks once again to everyone reading/reviewing etc etc

If we all survive the huge shocker on this week's Glee, there will be a new chapter on Thursday.


	7. Chapter 6

"Hey, Blaine! Did you manage to finish this week's assignment?"

"Eventually, I was just struggling to put what I wanted to say down on paper." Blaine sat down in his usual seat next to Kurt in English, pulling his assignment out of his bag and setting it on the desk in front of him.

Kurt smoothed out a slight wrinkle in his blazer. "Did that website I texted you help any?"

Blaine nodded. "It did, thanks again for that."

"No problem." Kurt smiled.

"Could you all please pass your assignments forward to the front of the room!"

Kurt picked up his and Blaine's assignments and passed them to Trent who was sitting in front of them."Any idea what Wes has planned for the Warblers meeting today?"

Blaine shrugged. "He said they've narrowed down the list of possible Sectionals songs but I doubt he'll tell us which ones they are still debating over."

As Blaine reached behind him to take the pile of assignments being handed to him, Kurt couldn't help but wonder if Blaine had mentioned the Relient K song Kurt had suggested to Wes. Forcing the memory that was threatening to surface to the back of his mind, Kurt grinned at his friend. "I think I could safely bet that there is no Pink or Katy Perry on that list."

"You're assuming that I don't have any dirt on Wes that I used to blackmail him into putting 'Teenage Dream' on that list."

"_Do_ you have any dirt on Wes?" Kurt asked curiously.

Blaine shook his head sadly. "Unfortunately, no."

Their teacher called for silence at that moment and Kurt turned his attention to the lesson.

* * *

><p>With a bang of Wes's gavel the Warblers were called to order and the meeting began.<p>

"The council have been going through the list of suggested songs for Sectionals and we have recently narrowed the selection down. We aren't going to reveal the new list yet-"

Blaine rolled his eyes, shooting Kurt a 'what did I tell you?' look.

"-still needs some more discussion and we need to run through a few possible arrangements for a couple of the songs but, we'll let you know the final decision as soon as it's made."

David put down the pen he was using to record the meeting. "I feel like an impromptu performance." He announced. "Anyone got a song they want to perform?"

Blaine jumped to his feet. "Is Adele ok?"

At David's nod, Blaine moved to stand near the council's desk. "Sorry it's not a fun song but I just need to sing this."

His eyes flicked over to where Kurt was sitting beside Nick and started to sing.

_You've been on my mind_

_I grow fonder every day_

_Lose myself in time_

_Just thinking of your face_

The rest of the Warblers backed up his singing with their soft accompaniments. Blaine's eyes moved between looking where he was going as he moved slowly around the room and glancing at Kurt. He knew that Kurt could tell the song was for him, there was a slight frown on the other boy's face as he sang, but the eyes that followed Blaine around the room shone with tears.

_You'll never know if you never try_

_To forget the past and simply be mine_

_I dare you to let me be your, your one and only_

Blaine had been worried that he was wasting his time singing this after Kurt had told him he wasn't interested. But Blaine had held onto the memory of their kiss before Kurt ran out, the way Kurt blushed around him, the way Wes said that Kurt looked at him, and the sob Kurt had let out after he had told Blaine he didn't want to date him. All of this, and the way Kurt was looking at him now as he sang, told Blaine that what he and Kurt had experienced when they kissed was real.

When the song ended the other Warblers applauded him and praised his voice. Through the gaps in the crowd surrounding him, Blaine saw Kurt wipe his eyes and fix a smile on his face before joining them. Once everyone had finished complementing Blaine and discussing the song, Wes dismissed them and everyone began shuffling out of the room.

"Blaine, can I talk to you?"

Blaine turned from where he was picking up his bag from the corner of the room to see Kurt standing beside him. He nodded and walked over to one of the couches to sit down. Kurt waited until the last couple of Warblers had exited the room before he joined Blaine. Suddenly finding himself nervous, Blaine fidgeted with the strap of his bag, avoiding Kurt's gaze, until Kurt eventually broke the tense silence.

"Why did you pick that song?"

Blaine looked up; he could no longer read Kurt's emotions like he could whilst he had been singing.

He coughed nervously. "I wanted to sing something that I could relate to."

Kurt seemed to struggle with something for a moment before finally speaking. "You have an amazing voice, Blaine."

Blaine resisted the urge to sigh; he'd been hoping Kurt would bring up the fact that Blaine had sung the song to him.

"Want to go drop off our bags before dinner?"

"Sure," Blaine didn't even try to hide his disappointment; he'd imagined this moment going a lot differently, "let's go. It's pizza tonight and if we don't get there early Wes and David will eat all the pepperoni."

* * *

><p>"Dad?"<p>

Kurt pressed his phone to his ear as he moved around his room, tossing clothes and pots of skin cream into his weekend bag.

"Hey, Kurt! Is everything ok?"

"It's fine. I'm coming home for the weekend; I'm leaving Dalton in about ten minutes." He couldn't stand pretending to be a cheery, good friend around Blaine any longer.

"That's great! I don't have to work at all this weekend so we'll be able to spend some time together, I might even let you drag me to the mall!" Burt chuckled.

"Sounds good, Dad." Kurt replied automatically, only half listening to what his Dad was saying. "I'll see you soon."

"Drive safe, kiddo."

Kurt hung up, threw a few more random articles of clothing into his bag, and then headed out.

* * *

><p>When his bedroom door opened Blaine quickly lowered his eyes to the book lying open on the desk in front of him and pretended to be completely absorbed in his homework.<p>

"I take it your song didn't work?" Wes pulled out his desk chair and sat down.

Blaine shook his head; he wasn't in the mood to discuss it.

Wes clapped him on the shoulder. "Never mind, he definitely likes you, he must just need more time."

Blaine said nothing to this, just turned a page of his textbook and pretended to be interested in a passage about homeostasis, it was easier than discussing Kurt with Wes again.

Wes watched him for a moment before sighing and starting to work on his own homework, leaving Blaine to miserably torture himself with the memory of Kurt's lips on his.

* * *

><p>Kurt was just buttoning up his coat when his Dad appeared on the stairs.<p>

"Where you heading out to?"

Kurt carefully did up the last button. "I'm going to visit Mum; I haven't been in a while."

Burt walked down the remainder of the stairs. "Do you want me to come with you?" He reached for his coat which hung on a hook by the front door.

Kurt shook his head. "I want to go alone."

He opened the front door and stepped out into the chilly morning, unlocking his car and slipping into the driver's seat. He drove slowly across town to the cemetery. It had been almost six months since he had visited his Mum's grave which made him feel guilty on top of everything else. He parked his car and walked briskly through the small cemetery to where his Mum lay, ignored the cold and slightly damp ground, and sat down beside her grave. He stretched out his hand and touched her name, a sad smile on his face as he remembered her teaching him how to bake cupcakes and make little decorations out of the icing, singing along to The Sound of Music with her, and reading the latest issue of Vogue together. The smile soon slipped from his face.

"I'm so sorry, Mum." He whispered, a hot tear sliding down his cold cheek. "It's my fault you're lying here instead of sitting at home with Dad trying to bully him into eating more vegetables, my fault you never got to go on that holiday to France you always wanted; all my fault.

He choked out a sob and wiped at the tears gathering under his chin with a shaking hand. "And now I'm paying the price for my stupidity again. I'm falling in love, Mum with the most wonderful person. His name is Blaine and I know you would have loved him. But I can never be with him, even though he feels the same way, if he falls in love with me it will be his grave I'll be crying beside next."

A fresh wave of sobs shook him at the thought and it was several minutes before he was able to speak again.

"I can't stop myself from falling in love with him but I have to be alone forever. I have to ignore and be cruel to everyone I love. I don't think I can live with this much longer, Mum."

He brought his knees up to his chest and cried; his eyes on his Mother's grave, his thoughts on his Dad and Blaine. 

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **I had my iPod on shuffle whilst I wrote this and it decided to torture me whilst I wrote the last part and played 'Lily's Theme', 'The Resurrection Stone', and 'Farewell to Dobby' from the Harry Potter soundtracks. I teared up.

Sorry you guys got a depressing episode of Glee and a pretty sad chapter from me this week.

I hope this chapter isn't too choppy, I needed to show things from both Kurt and Blaine's perspective and this is just the way it worked out.

The song Blaine sings is 'One and Only' by Adele.

Thank you to all the usual people, pretty sure you guys know the drill by now. And I love reading your reviews, even if they are just a short sentence about how you want Kurt to get together with Blaine. They make my day.

Thanks for reading! :)


	8. Chapter 7

Blaine kept shooting Kurt concerned looks all through dinner on Sunday and again during breakfast and classes on Monday. Whenever Blaine or anyone else asked him if he was alright, Kurt would force a smile and tell them he was just feeling tired.

Kurt contributed very little to the discussion on choreography during Monday afternoon's Warbler meeting and his dancing was one of the worst in the group when they practiced some routines. Luckily, everyone seemed to except his excuse of being tired, everyone except Blaine whose worried gaze remained on him throughout the entire meeting.

"Kurt, I know you say you're just tired but you look ill, do you want me to take you to see the nurse?"

Wes had just dismissed them from the meeting and everyone else had made a beeline for the door. Kurt had hung back, hoping to avoid people's worried questions but had instead found himself alone in the room with Blaine.

"I'm fine, Blaine." Kurt tried to brush past him to the door but Blaine caught his elbow.

"You're pale, you're a lot quieter than normal, your eyes are red, and you are normally one of the best dancers out of all of us but today..." He paused. "You haven't been yourself since you came back on Sunday. Did something happen when you were at home?"

Kurt shook his head. "I'm fine, Blaine really."

Blaine looked at him sadly. "You hardly ever talk to me these days." When Kurt opened his mouth to object to this Blaine shook his head. "No, I mean talk to me about something other than school and Warbler stuff." He hesitated. "This- this hasn't got anything to do with the kiss does it?"

Kurt almost turned and ran from the room; he had been hoping to avoid this.

"I thought we were putting that behind us and just being friends."

"Why do you insist on trying to leave it at that and never discuss it? Why do you keep lying to yourself about it?"

Kurt frowned at him.

"I _know_ you felt something when we kissed." Blaine continued. "I know that it wasn't just nothing to you and I wish you would just tell me why you are pushing me away-"

"I told you before, Blaine I just want to be friends with you, that's all – nothing more. What about that didn't you understand the first time I told you?" Kurt's voice rose in anger. "For someone so intelligent you really can be stupid sometimes. Can't you tell when someone isn't interested? If you still want me as a friend, Blaine then you better drop this. If you can't be around me without trying to force your feelings onto me then you'd better-"

Blaine narrowed his eyes. "Force my feelings onto you? Why do you keep lying to yourself, Kurt? What good is it doing?"

Kurt snatched his bag up from where it lay on the floor at his feet. "Why are you_ so_ sure I'm lying? You can't read my mind, Blaine!"

"If you felt nothing then why did you kiss me back?"

Kurt chose to avoid that question. "Can you just drop this and leave me alone?"

Blaine shook his head. "Not until you tell me what's wrong."

Kurt found himself shouting again. "Not everything can be solved by reasoned discussion, Blaine! This isn't a Warbler meeting!"

"I don't understand why you're so determined not to tell me anything!" Blaine yelled back. "I'm your _best friend_, Kurt and part of being a friend is sharing your problems so you can help each other! You should also tell your friends the truth, but you've been lying to me every time you say you just want to be friends! If that were the truth then you would give me a reasonable answer as to why you kissed me back instead of avoiding answering! Heck, if you just thought of me as a friend you wouldn't have kissed me back in the first place!"

Kurt felt his frustration at not being able to tell Blaine the truth and his anger at himself for causing all this reach boiling point. "I wish you would just learn when you are not wanted, Blaine!"

As soon as the words were out of his mouth he regretted it. Blaine glared at him for a second, then his face crumpled, tears welling up and spilling down his face, a sob escaped his throat and Kurt's heart broke.

"Blaine-"

Blaine pushed past him and ran out the room leaving Kurt standing staring after him, hating himself.

He hated seeing Blaine in pain and what was even worse was knowing that he had caused it. He knew he had just reminded Blaine of being bullied, of being told he was worthless and that no one would ever want him; Kurt had been told the same thing at McKinley. Which put Kurt on the same level as the bullies, he wasn't much better than them.

The breaths that left him were harsh, rapid, and shallow and tears were streaking down his face. A sob escaped him as he ran across the choir room, up the beautiful staircase on which he and Blaine had met, along the corridors to the boarder's wing, and up the stairs until he skidded to a halt outside Blaine's room. He fell against the door; he could hear the sounds of Blaine crying inside the room.

"Blaine!" He hammered on the door with his fists.

"Blaine, please just let me in to talk to you. Please, Blaine please!"

Wiping his nose with the back of his hand, he leant his forehead against the door. "Please." He whispered.

The lock clicked and Kurt scrambled backwards away from the door. Blaine stood in the doorway, his face blotchy and damp; he held the door open for him.

"Thank you." Kurt told him as he passed on his way into the room.

Blaine sat down on the bed, pulled his knees up to his chest and waited for Kurt to speak.

"Blaine, I'm so sorry. I can't stand hurting you and I didn't mean what I said, but I just-" He broke off to wipe at his eyes and took a deep, shuddering breath before continuing. "It's dangerous for you to care about me, Blaine. Very dangerous for anyone to care about me too much, which is why I say cruel, hurtful things that I don't really mean at times, why I distance myself from people whom I'm getting too close to, why I chose to board here even though I could drive every day, why I try to avoid going home at weekends to see my Dad."

Blaine's face creased into a frown. "What exactly do you mean by dangerous?"

Kurt hesitated; he could see no way of answering Blaine's question without having to tell him about the curse. He had never told anyone about it before, not even his own Dad. It was his private, horrific secret. He didn't think he could tell anyone, if he did then his ways of trying to prevent them from loving him would fail, and then they would die, it could be after a few hours or it could be years later, but they would die. But, now he had no choice but to tell Blaine the truth.

"I'm cursed."

Blaine looked confused. "Cursed as in...?"

"Cursed as in I was stupid enough when I was thirteen years old and clearing out the attic to force open a box with strange carvings on it which caused a demon to escape and curse me."

Blaine stared at him for a while, eyes wide as he struggled to comprehend what Kurt had just told him. "A- a demon? An actual demon?"

Kurt nodded. "Yes, it was big, it stank, had a voice that still haunts my nightmares, and eyes like the sky in hell."

"My batty old history teacher is right," Blaine said to himself in shock, "demons do exist." He shook his head slightly. "What was the curse it gave you?"

Kurt closed his eyes and recited. "Death will find all who look upon you with love, it may come after moments, it may come after years, but all who love you shall perish, and I shall begin tonight."

"Kurt..."

Kurt didn't hear Blaine move but suddenly his arms were wrapped around him and since he was sitting and Blaine was standing, Kurt's face was buried in Blaine's chest and Blaine's head was resting on top of his own. Loving the feeling of being held, of being safe, neither of which he had felt in years, he wrapped his arms around Blaine's waist and breathed in the scent of him. As they held each other Kurt was able to forget everything else except Blaine and being in his arms. 

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Bit of an angsty chapter...

Who watched the Darren and Kermit duet on the E! pre-Oscars show?

I've forgotten if I had anything else I wanted to say here, still freaking out over Darren and Kermit...

Thanks to all the usual people, especially those reviewing, I love hearing your reactions to this!


	9. Chapter 8

**Warnings for this chapter: Some swearing and brief mentions of suicide.**

* * *

><p>Blaine's mind was spinning, he couldn't believe this had happened to Kurt, that demons and curses actually existed. What else was real? Werewolves? Wizards? He pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind; he needed to be helping Kurt right now.<p>

He brushed the hair back from Kurt's forehead, this was the first time he had seen his friend with his hair a little messy; Blaine liked it more than he probably should. Kurt clutched at him tighter for a minute, his breath creating a warm spot on Blaine's chest, and Blaine closed his eyes, his nose in Kurt's soft hair.

Kurt pulled back slowly and Blaine went to step away and sit back on the bed, but Kurt stopped him with a hand on his arm. "Can you stay beside me?" He whispered.

Blaine nodded and sat down on his desk.

"My Mum was the first to die from the curse," Kurt whispered brokenly, "she died that night just like the curse said." He closed his eyes, tilting his head back and swallowing thickly. "She died and it was my entire fault!"

Blaine could feel tears prickling in his eyes again, threatening to spill down his face. "No," Blaine placed a hand on Kurt's shoulder as tears stained his friend's face. "Kurt, it wasn't your fault, you didn't kill her, the demon did."

"The demon's _curse_ killed her, a curse that got placed on me because I was stupid enough to open that fucking box."

"You didn't know what was in the box when you opened it, you didn't know demons and curses existed. Your Mum was murdered by a demon; it was not your fault."

Kurt shook his head and Blaine knew that nothing he or anyone else said to him would convince him that he wasn't guilty.

"What am I supposed to do, Blaine?" Kurt sounded defeated, "How am I supposed to spend the rest of my life alone and pushing away anyone who tries to love me? Who wants to live like that? It's not a life, it's a death sentence, I'm destined to waste away alone."

Kurt's words and tone were scaring Blaine, it sounded like he was ready to give up and end it all. He slid off the desk and dropped to his knees in front of Kurt, taking his hands and entwining their fingers. "You can't think like that, Kurt. Don't you dare think like that."

Kurt stared down at their hands. "Why not? My life ends, the curse ends, no one else dies because of me."

Blaine squeezed his hands. "Kurt, look at me."

Kurt slowly raised his head, his tortured blue eyes meeting Blaine's.

"Ending your life doesn't solve anything. What about your Dad? You'll be leaving him alone, having lost both his wife and his son – you'll be torturing him, killing him with grief. What about everyone else who cares for you? Your friends here? Me? You'll hurt us all, and I don't know how I could survive losing you." Blaine finished in a rough whisper, tears shining on his face.

Kurt bit his lip and sniffed. "What else am I to do? Go and live somewhere remote, miles from anyone, by myself for the rest of my days? Cut myself off from the world?"

"No, you fight back against the bastard of a demon that did this to you. Curses have counter-curses don't they?"

Kurt didn't look convinced. "Even if they do how am I supposed to find one? And I don't know how to cast a counter-curse."

"We search the internet, we look in books, and I think I know someone who may be able to help us. She's not Harry Potter and she's a bit batty, but she believes in demons and all that sort of stuff." He paused. "Come to think of it, she may not be all that crazy after all seeing as demons really do exist."

"Are you talking about your History teacher? The one who walks the corridors muttering to herself and tripping over her dusty old shawls?"

Blaine nodded, glad that Kurt was looking less tortured. "That's the one."

Kurt gazed at Blaine, his red-rimmed eyes wide, but finally dry. "I'll go along with this, but I doubt I'll be able to be cured. But I'll do this, for you."

Blaine gripped Kurt's hands and stared fiercely into his eyes. "We're going to get you free from this, Kurt. I won't rest until we do."

* * *

><p>Kurt sighed and clicked back to the Google homepage, crossing another item off the list he and Blaine had made of things to search on the internet. He typed in the next item on the list and hit enter.<p>

"I think we need to face it, Blaine there is nothing on the internet about demons or their curses that isn't fiction or myth."

It was Tuesday lunchtime and he and Blaine were in Dalton's library researching demons, curses, and counter-curses. Blaine had sat next to him at breakfast that morning, a determined look on his face, and had handed him a piece of paper on which he had written a list of words and phrases to search on Google as well as the titles of several books he wanted to take out of the library. Blaine was currently sitting at a table near Kurt's computer, flicking through one of the books from his list, his face furrowed in concentration.

Blaine looked up. "We can't give up yet, we've only just started! I've got History this afternoon so I'll talk to Ms. Price then and we may be able to get some decent information."

Kurt chewed on his bottom lip. "I'm not sure about this. You're the only person I've told about the curse and I'm not comfortable with telling a teacher about it, especially a crazy teacher who is bound to mutter loudly about it in the corridors some day."

Abandoning his book, Blaine spun round in his chair to face Kurt. "Kurt, she's going to be our best source of information! Most likely, she's going to be the only way to rid you of this thing! There's _no way _we can get her to help without telling her what we need it for!"

Kurt drummed his fingers on the desk top. "Unless...you say she has lots of books on demons and stuff?"

Blaine nodded. "Yeah, her office is full of them."

"We only really need the books; anything she tells us is probably in them."

"Wait," Blaine sat up straighter, "I know where you're going with this, are you suggesting we break into her office?"

Kurt smiled at him. "Maybe."

Blaine licked his lips nervously. "Kurt, I don't know..."

Quickly shutting down his computer, Kurt got up and slid into the chair next to Blaine's. "I know we would get into a lot of trouble if we were caught but, like you said, she's my only chance and I can't tell her about it." He looked pleadingly at Blaine.

Blaine sighed in defeat. "I am _such_ a sucker for the puppy-dog eyes." He announced to no one in particular.

"So, you'll help me do it? Friday night? That way we can borrow the books for the weekend and return them before she's back at school on Monday."

Blaine smiled softly and gazed at him fondly. "Anything for you, Kurt."

Kurt's breathing hitched and without thinking about it he placed a hand on Blaine's cheek. Blaine's eyes darkened and he inhaled sharply.

"I probably shouldn't be doing this." Kurt whispered.

"What's life without a few risks?"

Blaine's breath brushed over Kurt's face, they had been leaning closer to each other unconsciously and now their noses were almost touching.

Kurt allowed his eyes to flutter shut and he closed the distance between them, pressing his lips against Blaine's. Blaine's lips parted automatically under the pressure and Kurt deepened the kiss, the hand not cupping Blaine's face gripping the other boy's blazer. Blaine's tongue swept across Kurt's bottom lip causing him to moan softly and, after a second's hesitation, he slid his tongue inside Blaine's mouth.

Kurt had no idea what he was doing when it came to kissing. This was only his second kiss, but judging from the way Blaine groaned and pulled him closer, what he was doing was more than adequate.

Blaine's tongue slipped against his and then Blaine was biting down gently on Kurt's bottom lip before sucking it into his mouth...

The bell signalling the end of lunch rang and Kurt and Blaine jumped apart, panting. They stared at each other, faces flushed, and then a smile broke across both of their faces.

"Do you regret taking the risk?"

Kurt shook his head, his smile so big it felt like he was stretching his face, and dropped his head onto Blaine's shoulder. "I could never regret you."

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><p><strong>AN: **Kliss :)

I finished writing the epilogue for this story yesterday! I still have quite a few chapters to type up and a bit of editing to do but other than that I have finished writing this story! I got an idea for a new multi-chapter Klaine story (at around 3am because that's how my brain works) a couple of days ago and I started writing that today and hope to start posting it the same day I post the epilogue for this story (which is still quite a while away). New story is completely different from this one but I'm excited about it.

On a more serious note, suicide is mentioned in this chapter and I just want to say that if any of you guys go through a dark period in your life and consider ending your own life or know someone who is feeling this way, then please talk to someone, there are lots of organisations all over the world that can help you. Suicide is not the answer.

Huge thank you to everyone reading, reviewing etc. I love seeing how much you guys are enjoying this!


	10. Chapter 9

"What time do you think will be safe to do this?"

It was almost midnight and Blaine was on the phone to Kurt in his bathroom so as to not wake Wes.

"Never," Blaine replied, he could almost hear Kurt rolling his eyes in response, "but I think it will be slightly less of a risk if we go around 1am, everyone should be asleep by then."

"Ok, so what should we talk about to keep you awake until then?"

Blaine stifled a yawn. "I'm not going to fall asleep."

Kurt chuckled. "Sure you're not."

He was silent for a moment and Blaine could hear him moving around his room.

"What's your favourite colour?" Kurt shot at him suddenly.

Blaine grinned. "This is your way of keeping me awake? Playing twenty questions?"

"We have an hour to kill, there's going to be more than twenty questions."

"But, I'll have to ask you questions as well, it's only fair, and I might just make them-"

"Just answer the question, Blaine." Kurt interrupted.

"Red, I like bright colours."

"Cat or dog?"

Blaine replied immediately. "Dog."

"I could have guessed that."

"Really? Do I look like a dog person?"

Kurt laughed. "No, you look like a puppy, or you act like one at least."

Blaine was puzzled. "I act like a puppy?"

"Yeah, you get really excited about everything and you always have this huge smile on your face, just like a puppy."

"Puppies smile?" Blaine asked, grinning.

"You know what I mean."

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><p>"What time is it?"<p>

Kurt glanced over at the clock on his bedside cabinet. "1.03am." He jumped to his feet. "Time to go!"

"Ok, I'll meet you by the stairs in a few minutes." Blaine told him before hanging up.

Kurt grabbed his flashlight and the other items he'd laid out which they would need to successfully break into Ms. Price's office. He cracked his bedroom door open, made sure the coast was clear, then slipped silently out into the dark, deserted corridor and tip-toed along it to the staircase. Blaine's room was further from the stairs than Kurt's was, so Kurt had to wait a while before Blaine appeared. When the younger boy crept up to the stairs and the moonlight streaming through a nearby window fell on him, Kurt snorted. "Dressed for the job I see." He whispered, his voice shaking with suppressed laughter.

Blaine looked down at his outfit of black sneakers, black jeans, and a black hoodie, the hood of which was pulled up to hide his face. "Just trying to do this properly."

Kurt shook his head at him and set off down the stairs, walking slowly to minimise noise.

They reached the pair of heavy fire doors leading out of the boarder's wing, Kurt cursed under his breath. "I forgot we would have to go through these."

Blaine pushed at the doors, inching them open as quietly as he could. Other than a slight noise when it started opening, Blaine managed to push the doors open wide enough for them to slip through without a sound.

"Where about is her office?" Kurt whispered as they walked across the foyer, keeping to the shadows and trying to prevent their shoes from squeaking against the marble floor.

"Far side of the History department, near the doors leading out to the courtyard."

Kurt sighed; of course it would be at almost the opposite side of the school from their rooms.

"Good thing the teachers trust us enough that they don't patrol the corridors at night." Blaine murmured as they crept along another deserted corridor.

"I'm surprised nothing's ever happened that has caused them to not trust us. I can't believe _no one_ has sneaked around the school at night before."

Blaine grinned at him. "Oh, they have, we're just all good at not getting caught."

Kurt frowned. "_We?_ If you've snuck around the school at night before why were you so freaked out about doing it tonight?"

"I've never left the boarder's wing at night before and we are breaking into a teacher's office which is a bit more dangerous than playing a game of hide and seek."

Kurt bit back a laugh. "_That's_ what you do when you feel like breaking the rules? Play hide and seek?"

Blaine shrugged. "It was Wes and David's idea, not mine. And it was fun, I should ask them to do it again sometime, let you see how fun it is."

They rounded the corner into the History department and crept up to Ms. Price's office. Kurt handed the flashlight to Blaine and pulled a hairpin out of his pocket.

"You had a hairpin just lying around your room?" Blaine clicked the light on and shone it at the lock.

Kurt began picking at the lock. "I found it lying at the bottom of my weekend bag; it must have gotten there when I slept over at my old friend Rachel's house. I was originally going to use a paper clip, but I found this and thought it would be better. Now shut up and let me concentrate."

Kurt worked on the lock for several long minutes whilst Blaine fidgeted beside him until, with a small click, the door unlocked. Shoving the hairpin back into his pocket, Kurt turned the handle and pushed the door open. Blaine shone the light around the room, stopping when the beam landed on the bookcases in the far corner of the room.

"That's a lot of books." Blaine breathed, walking over to examine the bookcases. "Most are on History but there's still a lot on demons and witchcraft." He bent to look at the lower shelves.

"We only need the ones on demons." Kurt said as he joined Blaine. "We can flick through them and only take the ones which look like they might be of use."

He ran his finger over the spines of the books and plucked a promising looking title from the shelf, sitting it on the desk. "Can I have the flashlight for a second?"

Blaine handed it over and Kurt held it in one hand as he flicked through the pages, searching for anything that might be able to help him.

Kurt hadn't been convinced when Blaine had suggested researching for a cure from his curse. He thought he was stuck with it for life, but after hearing what Blaine had said about his History teacher – how he had heard her talk about demons before, how he had seen some of her demon books on her desk in class before – Kurt had started to think that maybe there was a chance he could rid himself of the curse or, at the very least, find a way to learn to live with it. Now, as he looked through Ms. Price's books and saw how serious the texts looked, he felt more hopeful.

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><p>Blaine placed a book into the bag Kurt had brought. "I think that should do us. The bag is full and I doubt we'll be able to read anymore than what we've got here before Sunday night."<p>

Kurt got up from where he had been kneeling on the floor and brushed off his jeans "Can you hold the bag whilst I lock the door again?"

Kurt managed to lock the door quicker than he had unlocked it and soon they were walking back along the corridor. "I'll keep the books in my room seeing as I have no roommate who might see them. Want to go for coffee tomorrow morning and start looking through the books? I think it's safer if we look at them out of Dalton so there's no chance of anyone recognising them."

Blaine nodded, and then realising Kurt couldn't see him in the dark corridor said. "Good idea."

They crept across the foyer, back through the fire doors, and back up the stairs to Kurt's room.

"We made it!" Blaine said in relief as Kurt opened his door.

In the dim light coming through the window Blaine saw Kurt grin at him. "You mean _I've _made it, you're not back in your room yet."

Blaine gave Kurt the bag of books and stepped out into the corridor. "Goodnight, Kurt!" 

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><p><strong>AN: **Because Blaine _does_ act like an excitable puppy at times - and so does Darren.

I need more decent blogs to follow on Tumblr. If you want to follow me my url is http:/ wannabea-starshipranger. tumblr. com (take out the spaces), I post Darren Criss, Chris Colfer, Klaine, Starkid, Harry Potter, and Glee and if you post any of that I'll follow you back :)

Huge thank you to everyone reading and I'm still getting new alerts and favourites for this story which is great!


	11. Chapter 10

"Is there such a thing as caffeine poisoning?"

Blaine glanced up from the thick book he was reading looking puzzled. "I don't think so, why?"

"That's your fifth cup of coffee, that can't be healthy."

"Well, stop buying me more coffee then." He took another swallow of his coffee. "I need caffeine to get through these books, who knew demons could be so boring."

Kurt scanned the index of a leather-bound book he had just opened. "You've taken this really well you know – the existence of demons." He added at Blaine's frown. "If I hadn't seen one, I wouldn't have believed they were real, it would take a lot of convincing and evidence for me to believe it."

Blaine shrugged. "I trust you, so I believe you."

Kurt returned his smile as Blaine went back to his book. They had been at their usual coffee shop for a good part of the day reading the books they had taken from Ms. Price's office but still hadn't found anything about counter-curses. There was plenty of information on curses, the different types and their effects, but so far, nothing on reversing them – maybe it couldn't be done.

"Kurt?"

"Yeah?" Kurt replied, without looking up from his book.

"Instead of trying to get a counter-curse, do you think it's possible to just find the demon that cursed you and make it undo the curse?"

Kurt looked across the table at Blaine, frowning slightly as he thought about what Blaine had just suggested. "How could you force it to reverse the curse? Threaten it? Torture it?"

"I'm not sure." Blaine admitted. "But I'm not having any luck with finding another way to cure it, are you?"

Kurt shook his head, sighing as he closed the book in front of him which was of zero use to him. "I've had enough of this for today, let's go back to Dalton."

Blaine downed the last of his coffee and stacked his books, stuffing them back into the bag whilst Kurt got to his feet and pulled on his coat.

"I _still_ can't believe we're going to be performing Pink at Sectionals, are you sure you didn't have to bribe Wes?"

Blaine laughed as they stepped outside and Kurt couldn't help smiling at the sound. "Believe it or not, but Wes actually likes 'Raise Your Glass'. _I'm _more surprised that the council have gone with a duet, we've never done a duet for a competition before."

The council had recently announced which songs they would be performing at Sectionals – Pink and Hey Monday's 'Candles'. Kurt had put his name down on the audition list for singing the 'Candles' duet with Blaine who, as the elected lead soloist, didn't have to audition. Kurt shoved his hands into the pockets of his coat when a chilly wind blew up.

"I hope you get to sing the duet with me." Blaine told him as the long, sweeping tree-lined road into Dalton came into view.

"You want to sing a break-up song with me?"

"It's not _just_ a break-up song, and of course I want to sing it with you, your voice is amazing!"

Kurt glanced over at him, squinting slightly as the sun suddenly came out from behind a cloud. "So, you don't just want to sing it with me because you want to dump me?"

Blaine stopped dead and Kurt, his brain finally catching up with his mouth, blushed a deep red.

"Kurt, are we-" He licked his lips nervously, "are we dating? Because I didn't think we were, what with the curse and everything."

Kurt ducked his head. "I didn't mean to say that, it just...slipped out." He shook his head. "But no, we can't date, if we do there's a risk that we could fall in love and you know what the curse says, you know what will happen to you."

"What if it's too late for that?" Blaine whispered.

Kurt snapped his eyes up to Blaine's face. "What?"

"I'm in love with you, Kurt."

Kurt's heart leaped and his breath caught. The urge to throw his arms around Blaine and never let go, to say the words back to him, was overwhelming, but he couldn't. He took a step back, shaking his head. "No," He said under his breath, then louder, "no, Blaine you- you can't, _we_ can't. You have to-"

"Have to what? Stop being in love with you? It's not possible."

Kurt's breathing was haggard. "But, you'll die." He blinked back tears.

Blaine just looked at him steadily. "We are going to cure you of this curse, Kurt."

"That could be _impossible_ to do! Or it could take _years_! The curse could kill you before then!"

"What's life without a risk?" Blaine said with a small smile. "Besides, do you think I could just step out of your life, cut myself off from you, and stop loving you? Even if I moved to the other side of the world I would still love you."

Kurt squeezed his eyes shut against the tears, he heard Blaine move toward him and suddenly his arms were around him and Kurt dropped his head onto the shorter boy's shoulder, nuzzling against his neck as he returned the embrace.

* * *

><p>Blaine hesitated when he reached Kurt's room. If he knocked on the door he risked someone hearing and coming to investigate, but he couldn't think of another way to let Kurt know he was here.<p>

"Duh, Blaine." He muttered, mentally smacking himself on the forehead at his own stupidity as he pulled out his phone and sent a text to Kurt letting him know he was outside his room.

He had to wait a few minutes until the door opened and Kurt let him in. "I was sleeping." Kurt informed him, sitting down on his bed.

Blaine nodded at his adorably rumpled bed hair. "I noticed."

Kurt scowled at him, raising a protective hand to his hair. "What do you want, Anderson?"

Blaine's grin widened. "Anderson is it?"

He expected a smart response but Kurt surprised him. "I'm more snarky when I'm tired." He frowned. "Speaking of tired, you better hurry up with whatever you decided couldn't wait until morning as I have to be up early to do my skin and hair."

"Sorry, this probably could have waited but I wouldn't have been able to tell you in public so I decided to just come and tell you now when I knew we were guaranteed privacy."

Kurt was fiddling with his hair, trying to get it to sit in a tidy style. "Is this something about my curse?" He asked, brushing some hair back off his forehead.

Blaine reached over and pulled Kurt's hands away from his hair. "Leave the hair, it looks adorable like that. Yes, it is about the curse. I was looking through one of those books after Wes had gone to sleep and realised something, to be able to persuade the demon to undo your curse we'd have to summon it which is something we can't do as I don't understand half of what the chapters on summoning are talking about, but Ms. Price could probably do it for us."

Blaine could tell what Kurt was thinking so he hastened to convince him of what he was sure was their only option. "I know you don't want to tell anyone else, especially someone who is a stranger to you – a slightly mad old stranger at that. But, I do think she can be trusted and you can meet her and judge for yourself first, but I think this could be the only way we could hopefully cure you by."

Kurt said nothing at first, just bit his lip gently, his eyes on Blaine, and then he nodded. "Ok, we'll give this a try, I trust you." 

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><p><strong>AN: **Aww Blainers.

This chapter ended up being pretty short, I don't know why, but the chapters do start becoming longer again.

I thought about changing the songs they use for the competition (I know these were Regionals songs but I changed that :) ), especially the duet, but decided to just stick with 'Candles' and have Kurt mention the whole break-up song thing.

It was pointed out to me that I have been using the word 'Mum' instead of 'Mom', which I didn't even really realise I was doing (probably because it's an automatic thing with me being from the UK, and in the story I haven't really used the word in dialogue much which is different from using it out with dialogue and I don't think I'm making any sense here...). I can't change it for the chapters already posted but I have changed it for all future chapters. Sorry about that and thanks to the person who pointed it out.

Thanks for reading and for all your reviews!


	12. Chapter 11

Blaine stepped out of his history class to find Kurt already waiting outside for him. "We just have to wait until everyone else is gone."

Kurt nodded, moving closer to the wall to allow a large group of younger students past.

Blaine peered around the door into the classroom to find it empty except for Ms. Price who was gathering up some papers on her desk. "Ok." Blaine beckoned to Kurt and the pair approached the teacher.

Blaine cleared his throat. "Um, Ms. Price?"

His History teacher looked up, pushing back some of her white hair to see him better. "Mr. Anderson? And-"She frowned at Kurt who was standing just behind Blaine. "I don't have you in my classes, do I?"

Kurt shook his head whilst Blaine introduced him. "This is Kurt Hummel, he doesn't take History but he- _we_ need your help." Kurt smiled tentatively at her and moved to stand beside Blaine.

Ms. Price continued to frown at Kurt. "And what is it that you need my assistance with exactly?"

Kurt glanced over at Blaine, but he shook his head – it was better if Kurt explained this.

Kurt cleared his throat nervously. "Well, I heard that you know about- about demons."

Ms. Price nodded slowly. "I do, but you don't look like the type of person who would be interested in them. However..." She trailed off.

"I've...met a demon before and I was wondering if it would be possible for you to summon that same demon."

Ms. Price shifted in her chair to get a better look at Kurt. "And why would you want to do that?"

Blaine shot Kurt an encouraging smile when he looked nervously over at him.

"The demon cursed me and I want to try and make it undo the curse."

Ms. Price's eyes narrowed slightly but, to Blaine's relief, she didn't ask any questions about the nature of the curse. "It would be possible for me to summon up the demon, but it's no hat trick and it will take me some time to get everything prepared. I'll also need a description of the demon and something to personally identify it."

Blaine's heart sank, he hadn't thought of this. What could they possible use to identify the demon?

"Would the box it came out of work?" Kurt asked.

"The carved box it was trapped in before its release?" Ms. Price nodded. "Yes."

Blaine felt relief wash over him, it was going to be possible to summon the demon.

"I'll need at least a week to get everything ready." Ms. Price informed them, stacking the papers on her desk. "I'll let Mr. Anderson know when he comes to History when I'm ready. You'll need to bring the box to me as soon as you can."

Kurt nodded. "Thank you."

Ms. Price smiled at them. "I suggest you two get to lunch before it's over."

"Thanks again!" Blaine called over his shoulder as he and Kurt left the classroom.

Kurt shook his head in disbelief as they headed to lunch. "I can't believe that there's actually a chance I could be rid of this curse and be able to have a normal life."

"It's lucky Dalton decided to employ a History teacher with a fascination with demons."

They reached the dining hall and quickly got some lunch before sitting down at their usual table.

"I'll have to go home and get that box sometime. I think I'll go tomorrow as soon as school finishes for the day seeing as we don't have Warbler practice."

Blaine swallowed a mouthful of his sandwich. "Do you want me to come with you?"

Kurt took his time chewing before answering. "Yeah, I'd like that."

* * *

><p>Kurt pulled up in the driveway of a two storey house in a quiet street and cut the engine. "My Dad's home." He said, spotting his Dad's car in the open garage.<p>

"He won't mind me coming in will he?"

Kurt shook his head and unbuckled his seat belt. "He'll probably make a comment about us or embarrass me even more by asking you inappropriate questions about your intentions, but he will be fine with you being here." Kurt grinned at Blaine who was looking even more nervous. "Just be your usual charming, dapper self."

They climbed out the car and Kurt led the way into the house.

"Dad!" He called out, taking off his coat and hanging it on a hook by the door and indicating that Blaine should do the same.

Burt appeared in the doorway of the kitchen. "Hey, kiddo! What are you doing home?" His eyes landed on Blaine. "Who's your friend?"

"Dad, this is Blaine."

Blaine stepped towards Burt, his hand outstretched. "Good to meet you, Mr. Hummel."

Burt shook Blaine's hand. "Call me Burt."

Kurt watched anxiously as his Dad's eyes appraised Blaine and he waited for him to make a comment. To his great relief his Dad just nodded slowly at Blaine. "You're in the Warblers as well?"

"Yes, I am." Blaine replied.

Burt eyed Blaine up for another moment before turning to Kurt. "Not that I'm complaining about seeing you, but it's the middle of the week, shouldn't you be at school?"

"I just came to get something I need for a school project." Kurt told him. "It's up in the attic, so we'll just go get that and then we have to head back to Dalton."

"Ok, well I'll leave you boys to it."

Kurt beckoned to Blaine and the pair headed upstairs. When they reached the hatch leading up to the attic Kurt stopped and gazed up at it, biting on his lip.

"You ok?" Blaine asked him.

Kurt nodded. "I just haven't been up there since the day it happened." He reached up and yanked the cord, pulling the ladder down and climbing up – he just wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible.

The attic hadn't changed since the day an annoyed thirteen year old Kurt Hummel had come up to clear out some of the useless, old things that were gathering dust. Looking around at the dusty floor and stacked cardboard boxes no one would guess that a demon had once cursed a teenage boy here. The only indication that anything unusual had occurred here were the scorch marks, now mostly hidden by dust, which marked the spot where the demon had cursed Kurt before vanishing.

Kurt walked over to the nearest pile of boxes, averting his eyes from the scorch marks. He noticed Blaine looking at the marks, but he didn't say anything about them, for which Kurt was grateful.

"Here it is." Kurt carefully lifted the worn box out from where it had been hidden amongst the cardboard boxes and placed it on the floor where Blaine could see.

Blaine crouched down to examine the carvings surrounding the clasp. "It doesn't really _look_ like something that would contain a demon." He frowned slightly. "However, those carvings look a little...off."

Kurt nodded. "I guess those are what identify the box as being what it is."

"You said it was buried under things that had been left by the previous owner of your house, didn't you?"

Kurt nodded again, watching Blaine continue to frown at the box.

"I wonder why they left it here, or if they even knew what it was."

Kurt shrugged and picked up the box. "My Dad said the previous owners were a bit strange so there's a good chance they knew what it was and, judging from where it was when I found it, I'd say they just forgot about it."

They descended the ladder and Kurt tucked the box inside the bag he had brought for it. Burt was sitting in the living room when they arrived downstairs, watching a crime drama on TV which Kurt knew he was only pretending to be interested in so that his eavesdropping on Kurt and Blaine wasn't completely obvious.

Kurt reached for his coat. "We're off, Dad we need to leave now if we want to make it back before dinner ends."

Burt switched off the TV and stood up. "Why don't you boys stay for dinner? I'll order in some takeout."

Kurt hesitated, his hand still stretched out towards his coat. He glanced at Blaine and then slowly dropped his hand. "Ok," He indicated the bag at his feet that held the demon box, "I'll just go put this out in my car."

* * *

><p>Dinner with Kurt and his Dad wasn't as awkward as Blaine thought it would be. The conversation stuck to how school was going and the Warblers preparing for Sectionals. The questioning Kurt had feared only came once Kurt had started clearing the table. Blaine had stood up to help, but Burt had insisted he left Kurt to it seeing as he was their guest. Blaine had been nervously avoiding Burt's eye when he started.<p>

"So Blaine, are you and my boy dating?"

Blaine felt the heat rush to his face, his body betraying him and giving Burt an answer that Blaine wouldn't have said out loud. "Um," He cleared his throat. "No, we're not."

Burt eyed him sceptically and Blaine knew he had taken Blaine's blush as his answer. "Well, just be sure you treat him right, he's had a rough time these last few years, and he doesn't need more pain."

"I would _never _hurt Kurt." Blaine assured him.

"Kurt may not have told me, but I know he is really fond of you so-"

"Dad!"

Kurt had appeared back from the kitchen and was now glaring at his Dad from the doorway, his face flushed. "Blaine and I are _not dating_. Like I told you before, we are just friends."

Burt scratched his chin, his eyes flicking between the two red-faced boys. "Whatever you say, Kurt."

"We should be getting back to Dalton now." Kurt said, backing out the room.

Blaine got to his feet and hurried over to join Kurt. "Thank you for dinner, Mr. Hummel. It was nice meeting you."

Burt nodded at him. "It was nice meeting you too, Blaine. Drive safe, kids."

Kurt all but dragged Blaine out the house and into his car, as soon as they were inside he dropped his head onto the steering wheel and groaned. "I'm _so_ sorry about that, I knew my Dad would do something like that!"

Blaine smiled at him, the blush finally starting to leave his cheeks. "It could have been a lot of worse."

Kurt looked sideways at him. "_Could it_?" He sighed. "Let's just get back to school." 

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **The History teacher, Ms. Price, is partly based on a biology teacher I had when I was 15, although she didn't have a fascination with demons as far as I knew.

I'm going to Florida for a couple of weeks at the beginning of April, so I've planned my updating schedule so the epilogue for this story will be posted a few days before I leave as I don't want you guys to have a 2 week break between updates. I'll start posting my new story when I get back. This means that the next chapter will be posted on Tuesday :)

Thanks to everyone reading and reviewing! Glad you loved Blaine confessing his love to Kurt (who wouldn't love that?).


	13. Chapter 12

Blaine was half-way through his lunch by the time Kurt appeared, slightly out of breath.

"Just managed to catch Ms. Price." Kurt dropped down into the chair next to him and started eating his salad.

After checking that the rest of their friends at the table were absorbed in their own conversations, Blaine bent closer to Kurt. "What did she say about the box, will it work?"

Kurt swallowed and nodded. "Yeah, it will work. She needs some more time to get supplies together and to prepare, but she said she'll let us know when she's ready. I wrote out a description of the demon for her and she will check that using the box summons the correct demon before she actually summons it."

Kurt went back to his salad and Blaine chewed his own food slowly, wondering if this was a good time to bring up the subject that had been on his mind since he had learned that the demon would be able to be summoned. The sound of Trent, Jeff, and Nick roaring with laughter at something made Blaine realise that the dining hall in the middle of lunch was not _really_ the best place to have a conversation like that. 'I'll talk to him about it after classes today when we're alone.' Blaine told himself.

"Kurt! Blaine!"

Blaine looked down the table to where Wes was sitting with David and Thad.

"I just remembered I hadn't told you guys yet, we're announcing who will be singing the duet at the Warbler meeting today!"

"Thanks for letting your roommate and lead soloist be the first to know." Blaine said sarcastically.

Wes waved his remark aside. "Make sure you have some free time to practice with whoever gets it, Blaine." He smiled at the pair of them then turned to David who was asking him something.

Blaine looked sideways at Kurt who was poking at the last cherry tomato on his plate.

"I hope I got it." Kurt said, his eyes on the tomato. "I thought my audition went ok at the time, but looking back-"

"I'm sure it was perfect." Blaine reassured him. "And I really hope you got it, I'd love nothing more than to spend my free time singing with you."

Kurt smiled, looking up from his plate. "Thanks."

The bell rang, signalling the end of lunch and all around them boys got to their feet. Blaine stood up and offered his arm to Kurt. "May I walk you to class?"

Kurt rolled his eyes and pushed his arm away. "Dork." He said, but he was smiling.

"I try my best." Blaine followed Kurt out of the hall.

* * *

><p>Wes banged his gavel. "First point of order, the 'Candles' duet at Sectionals." He called to the suddenly silent room.<p>

Kurt tensed and leant forwards slightly, letting out a nervous breath. Next to him, Blaine flashed a reassuring smile.

"All of your auditions were excellent and it wasn't easy deciding-"

Kurt jiggled his leg. 'Get to the point, Wes!' He shouted in his head.

"The Warbler who will be singing the duet with junior member and lead soloist Blaine Anderson is-" Wes paused for dramatic effect until Thad nudged him. "Kurt Hummel!"

Everyone burst into applause, and Kurt gaped at the council table – he couldn't believe they had chosen _him_.

"Congratulations, Kurt!" David called over the noise.

An arm was thrown around his shoulders. "I _knew_ you would get it!" Blaine laughed delightedly. He pulled Kurt into a quick hug, Kurt reluctantly letting go when the rest of the Warblers came over to congratulate him.

When order was resumed, Wes spoke again. "Make sure you put in plenty of practice, and by practice I mean _singing_." He eyed Kurt and Blaine as they blushed slightly under the curious gazes of the other Warblers.

Wes turned serious again. "Now, the choreography for 'Raise Your Glass'..."

* * *

><p>"I still can't believe I got the duet!" Kurt flopped down on his bed, a huge smile on his face.<p>

Blaine grinned at him from where he sat on Kurt's desk chair. "I knew you would get it, you have an amazing voice, and the council would have been stupid not to choose you."

Kurt sat up. "The others who auditioned have great voices too."

Blaine shrugged. "I know, but your voice is better in my opinion. Plus, you are the first countertenor the Warblers have had in _years_; it would have been silly not to let you show off your voice at Sectionals."

"So, when should we start practicing? This weekend?"

Blaine nodded. "Sure, as long as you don't want to go home this weekend."

Kurt shook his head. "I saw my Dad yesterday; I'm not seeing him this weekend as well." The smile had vanished from his face.

'Oh right, the curse.' Blaine wanted to kick himself for reminding Kurt of that and making his smile disappear. However, the curse reminded him of something he still needed to discuss with Kurt.

"Um, Kurt?" He chewed his lip nervously.

"Yeah?"

Blaine shifted in his chair. "You- you are prepared for this not to work, for either the summoning to fail or not being able to get the demon to remove the curse, aren't you?"

Kurt didn't answer for a minute and Blaine nervously watched his face.

"I never thought it was remotely possible for the curse to be removed until recently – I thought I was going to live the rest of my life with it. I'll be...disappointed if it doesn't work but-" He paused and stared down at his bedding, biting down hard on his bottom lip so that it turned pale.

"Kurt?" Blaine moved to sit in front of him.

Kurt finally looked up. "I'll be able to live with it." He wouldn't meet Blaine's eyes.

"Well, ok. I'm very hopeful that this will work, Kurt."

"I hope it does." Kurt whispered.

* * *

><p>Blaine stuffed everything in his bag when Ms. Price dismissed his Monday morning History class. He had just swung his bag on his shoulder when she called him over.<p>

"Mr. Anderson, may I speak with you for a moment?"

Trent, who sat next to him in History, shot him a curious look, but Blaine just smiled and told him he would see him later, before heading over to the teacher's desk.

"Just a moment." Ms. Price told him when he reached her desk. She waited until the room had emptied before she spoke again. "The demon summoning is all ready to go. When is the earliest you and your friend Mr. Hummel are available to do this? It has to be done in an evening when the rest of the staff have gone home."

"We have extra Warbler practice after dinner today, so tomorrow?"

Ms. Price nodded. "That's fine with me. Come to my office at 8pm tomorrow."

Blaine hurried to the dining hall, eager to tell Kurt the news. He grabbed the first sandwich he saw along with a bottle of water and sped to his usual table where Kurt was already sitting.

"Ms. Price just spoke to me." Blaine muttered as he sat down.

Kurt set down his water bottle. "She's ready?"

Blaine nodded. "Tomorrow night, 8pm at her office."

Kurt picked up his sandwich, nodding slowly.

"It will be fine," Blaine assured him, sounding more confident than he felt. "In a couple of days you will be sitting here curse-free."

Kurt smiled at him but Blaine could see how strained it was and knew his friend was trying his hardest to hide how nervous he was about this and how much he wanted what Blaine had just told him to be true. Blaine just hoped that it really would be all ok in a couple of days.

* * *

><p>Kurt sighed and rolled over in bed, willing himself to fall asleep. He swore under his breath when his thoughts strayed to his curse again. Punching his pillow into a more comfortable shape, he squeezed his eyes shut and waited for sleep to come, trying desperately to keep his mind blank; it didn't work. Sitting up, he glanced over at his phone lying on his bedside cabinet. He had been resisting the urge to text Blaine and ask him to come to his room for several hours now. He knew Blaine would be fast asleep by now and he didn't want to wake him, but he really wanted to talk to him, to confess the fears he hadn't wanted to admit to him when they had discussed the possibility of the summoning not working.<p>

Giving in, Kurt snatched up his phone and texted Blaine. He hadn't really expected to get a response, thinking Blaine would be in too deep a sleep to hear his phone go off, so he was surprised when his phone buzzed a few minutes later with Blaine's reply saying he was coming to his room.

Kurt hurried to open the door when Blaine texted him saying he was outside.

"Are you ok?" Blaine asked as soon as the door was closed behind him.

Kurt sat down on his bed. "I'm scared this doesn't work, I want to be cured of this _so badly_."

"I want you cured as well, and I'm also scared that this will fail. I'll be devastated if it does, and I'll hate myself for being the one who got your hopes up."

Kurt pulled Blaine down onto the bed next to him. "No matter what happens you _can't_ regret suggesting I tried to find a way to get rid of the curse. Since I got cursed I have never felt hopeful, but you gave me hope, gave me something I never thought I'd feel again." He grasped Blaine's hands in his and as he stared into Blaine's eyes he felt tears well up. "It's _you_ I'm scared for, you and my Dad. If this fails tomorrow it's your lives that are at risk."

Blaine squeezed his hands. "Kurt, if it does fail remember what I told you, I could _never_ stop loving you. If it does fail, don't try and remove yourself from my life because I'm not leaving yours."

Tears spilled down Kurt's cheeks as he gazed at Blaine, gripping his hands tightly.

"And I don't want you to lose that hope completely again. If it fails, we're going to keep looking for another way to cure you. I won't rest until we find you a cure."

"You're too good to me." Kurt whispered. "You shouldn't be endangering yourself for me, no one should."

Blaine darted forward and captured his lips in a fierce kiss. "You're worth it, Kurt." He said when they broke apart, their foreheads resting against each other. "You say I've given you hope, made you feel something you never thought you would feel again, well I never thought I would _ever_ be as happy as I am when I'm with you. I thought after all the bullying that I would never feel like this, but since I met you I've never been so happy."

Kurt pressed his lips against Blaine's, kissing him slowly and softly, trying to put everything he felt for him into the kiss. "I've never been this happy in years either." Kurt whispered. "I love you, Blaine."

He felt Blaine's heartbeat stutter and then they were kissing again, Kurt tangling his fingers in Blaine's dark curls.

"You should go back to bed." Kurt said reluctantly.

Blaine sighed and wrapped his arms around Kurt, nuzzling against his neck, causing Kurt to shiver slightly as he returned Blaine's embrace. "Goodnight." Blaine murmured against his neck.

"Goodnight, Blaine." Kurt sat back and smiled at Blaine as he left the room. 

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Wes knows what Kurt and Blaine's idea of practicing is ;)

Huge thanks to everyone reading and for all your lovely reviews!

Next update will be Thursday!


	14. Chapter 13

Blaine arrived down at the dining hall for breakfast to find Kurt sitting by himself at the end of their usual table, pale-faced and swirling coffee around a cup. His stomach was churning too much to eat so he got himself a coffee and joined Kurt. "How are you feeling?" Blaine peered concernedly into Kurt's eyes.

"Sick with nerves." Kurt admitted.

Blaine nodded, taking a sip of his coffee."Me too." He met Kurt's eyes. "I meant everything I said last night; I'll be here for you no matter what happens, Kurt."

The corners of Kurt's mouth tilted up into a smile. "I know, it took me a while to realise that, but I know it now."

Blaine reached for Kurt's hand and squeezed it gently.

"Finally!"

Blaine and Kurt spun round in their chairs to see Wes and David sliding into seats across from them, huge matching grins on their faces as they watched the two boys in front of them.

"What?" Kurt asked them.

Wes nodded at their clasped hands which lay on the table.

Blushing, Blaine slid his hand down onto his lap, avoiding the eyes of the two grinning boys across the table as he took a gulp of coffee.

"No need to hide it from us, we've been waiting for you two to get together for ages." David said, tucking into his breakfast.

Blaine coughed nervously, the blush spreading down his neck as he continued to drink his coffee to give him something to do other than squirm under Wes and David's gaze.

Wes sighed disappointedly. "Still not going to speak?" He turned to David. "Fine, we'll leave them alone to their romance that they are determined to hide."

"See you later, lovebirds!" Winking at them, David got up and he and Wes moved to sit with the rest of their friends at the other end of the table.

"They're never going to stop teasing us, are they?"

Blaine shook his head, setting his coffee on the table.

Kurt stared into his coffee, the blush rapidly disappearing from his face and his cheeks turning pale again and Blaine knew he was back to thinking about tonight. Before Blaine could try and offer some words of comfort – though admittedly he couldn't think of many – Kurt stood up.

"I'm going to class now; I'll see you in English later." Scooping up his coffee, he left the hall.

* * *

><p>Kurt tried to pay attention in his classes, but his thoughts always ended up drifting to the demon summoning. He chewed over the whole thing so much during his first class that by the time it was over and he was walking out the door into the crowded corridor, he felt sick with apprehension and he couldn't remember a word the teacher had said during class. He walked slowly to English, his eyes downcast and his teeth worrying at his bottom lip.<p>

Blaine entered the classroom with Trent not long after Kurt had sat down at their usual desk. Blaine was laughing at something Trent had just said but it sounded strained and it didn't reach his eyes, which usually lit up to a brilliant, shining hazel which was almost like liquid gold when he laughed.

Blaine sat down next to him and Kurt just smiled tightly at him – he felt as if he would be sick if he opened his mouth. Blaine understood and they sat in silence whilst they waited for class to start. Trent glanced over his shoulder at them once, looking concerned, clearly noticing the silence and their tense faces, but he didn't say anything, for which Kurt was grateful. Trent knew when it was better to not ask them what was wrong and when to not interfere, something that some of their other friends, such as Wes, had failed to master.

Kurt and Blaine spent the entire lesson in silence. When the bell rang and the class began to get their feet, Blaine slid a folded piece of paper torn from his notebook across the desk to Kurt. Kurt looked up at him curiously, but Blaine just flashed him a brief smile before swinging his bag onto his shoulder and leaving for his next class. Kurt quickly gathered his things together and followed his classmates out the room. When he was in the corridor, his feet automatically taking the familiar path to his next class, he unfolded the sheet of paper and smoothed it out to see a single word in Blaine's handwriting in the centre.

'Courage.'

Kurt smiled and slid the paper into the pocket of his blazer, the tight knot in his stomach had eased, and he was able to walk to his next class with his head up.

* * *

><p>Blaine knocked on Kurt's bedroom door after dinner. He had gone down to the dining hall and sat with the Warblers but had eaten next to nothing. He had left after almost twenty minutes when Kurt hadn't shown, knowing Kurt would be in his room, too apprehensive to face dinner.<p>

The door opened to reveal Kurt – he had changed out of his uniform and was wearing jeans and a hoodie, the simplest outfit Blaine had ever seen him wear, and a testament to how nervous he was.

Blaine closed the door behind him and took up his usual spot on Kurt's desk chair. Some of his homework was spread across the desk, Kurt had obviously tried, and failed, to use it to distract himself. Switching his gaze over to the bed, Blaine watched Kurt pull his legs up until he was sitting cross-legged, and pick up a piece of paper that was lying on the bed next to him.

Kurt examined the paper silently for a moment before holding it up so Blaine could see. "Is it silly that this helped?"

It was the sheet of paper Blaine had written 'courage' on and given to Kurt at the end of English.

"It was supposed to help, even if only a little." Blaine told him with a small smile.

Kurt ran his thumb over the word inked on the paper. "Well it did, thanks." He lifted his gaze from the paper to Blaine's face. "You always manage to make me feel better, even through a handwritten word."

"I try my best."

A smile spread across Kurt's face. "There you go again."His smile softened. "You're amazing, Blaine."

"Is it too sappy of me to say that you're more amazing?"

Kurt shook his head. "Come here."

Blaine got to his feet and walked over to the bed. Kurt pulled him down next to him, wrapping an arm around his waist.

"You're more amazing." Blaine whispered into Kurt's ear, pulling him against his chest.

Kurt lifted Blaine's wrist to look at his watch, sighing when he saw the time. "We have almost two hours."

Blaine looked around Kurt's room and spotted the latest issue of Vogue on his bedside cabinet. "Why don't we spend that time doing something that will take our minds off it?" He reached for the magazine and held it up to show Kurt.

Kurt sat up and took the magazine from him, pulled Blaine down until he was curled against his side, wrapped an arm around him, and flipped the magazine open. "I feel like I'm always the one being cuddled against you, it's your turn."

Blaine smiled and snuggled closer to him as he settled down to read the magazine.

* * *

><p>Kurt stood back and allowed Blaine to knock on Ms. Price's office door. There was the sound of footsteps, and then the door cracked open. When Ms. Price saw who it was, she threw the door open and beckoned them inside.<p>

The office was in darkness, save for the flickering light of a few candles placed strategically around the room. All the office's furniture had been pushed to the perimeter of the room and a five pointed star had been chalked on the floor with strange symbols, similar to those carved on the box the demon had come out of, drawn in the points of the star. The demon box sat on the desk next to a few small pouches, a vial of some dark coloured liquid, and a large open book; Ms. Price stood next to these objects.

"Are you ready?" She asked, adjusting her dusty shawls.

Kurt glanced over at Blaine, who took his hand and whispered. "Courage."

Kurt looked over at the History teacher and nodded. "I'm ready."

She peered down at the book for a moment then turned to face the pentagram, scooping up the pouches and vial. With her eyes focused on the centre of the pentagram and her usually dreamy face focused, she began to chant in a strange, coarse language that made the hairs on the back of Kurt's neck stand up. Still chanting, she uncorked the vial and threw its contents into the centre of the pentagram, and then opened the pouches and tossed their contents to the same spot. A large, dark red flame erupted at this spot and, with a few last words, Ms. Price threw the demon box into the flame. The flame began to crackle with an unearthly blue in the centre and it spat upwards a couple of times, and then something began to move around inside it.

Suddenly, the flame was gone, replaced by a demon that Kurt immediately recognised; he inhaled sharply and gripped Blaine's hand.

The demon's eyes swept the room, finally narrowing on Ms. Price. "Why have you summoned me to this world?" It asked in a voice that echoed around the small room.

Ms. Price spat something at the demon in the same language she had chanted in earlier and held up another, larger pouch the same dark red colour as the demon's body and with more of the dangerous-looking symbols embroidered on it. The demon faltered, taking a step back and Ms. Price met Kurt's eyes.

Taking a step forward, Kurt spoke loudly, just managing to keep a nervous waver out of his voice. "I was the one who wanted you summoned here. I need to ask you about a curse you put on me four years ago."

The demon cackled when its eyes landed on Kurt. "Ah yes, I remember you. You released me from the prison I was trapped in, which I should have thanked you for, but unfortunately for you, I was feeling extremely angry and resentful so I took it out on you."

Kurt licked his dry lips. "So, you cursed me."

The demon cackled again. "Death will find all who look upon you with love, it may come after moments, it may come after years, but all who love you shall perish, and I shall begin tonight."

Kurt's palms began to sweat and he clutched tighter at Blaine's hand.

"Something about this is a little odd." Ms. Price stepped forward, frowning. "A curse as powerful as that can't usually be cast by a demon that has been imprisoned for years – it would be too weak for a curse like that."

"But it _did_ curse me, my Mom died that night just like it said." Kurt pointed shakily with his free hand at the demon.

Ms. Price glared at the demon. "Tell the truth about the curse and if it's real I _command_ you to take it off him!" She shook the embroidered pouch at the demon threateningly.

The demon hissed angrily before turning to face Kurt again. "The curse on you is fake, I knew you had no knowledge of the demon worlds and I was angry so I took advantage. I sensed the upcoming death of someone in your house and that made me choose that particular curse. But yes, the old bat is correct; I was too weak to actually curse you."

Distantly, Kurt was aware of Blaine saying his name, of Ms. Price shouting something and the demon hissing a reply, of her raising her arm and throwing the contents of the pouch at the demon, the sound of a screeching cry, and the demon vanishing leaving a cloud of acrid smelling smoke behind.

The curse was fake. Four years pushing people away: his Dad, Mercedes, Rachel... Four years of saying cruel things to people that he didn't mean. Four years of not being the true Kurt Hummel. All for nothing. 

* * *

><p><strong> AN:** I think that was the moment you had all been waiting for (other than Klaine happening, of course), I hope it didn't disappoint.

I just had to include 'courage' in my story somehow, so there it is :)

It's Kurt and Blaine's first anniversary today! I didn't give them the best of chapters for it, but I'll make it up to them later :)

I don't know what happened last chapter, but wow, the response was amazing. I don't know if it was that chapter or if people are a bit Klaine-deprived from the hiatus, but…wow. Thank you all so much for reading, favouriting, getting alerts, and for reviewing! I love reading your responses to this story and your reviews make me smile.

Next chapter will be posted on Sunday!


	15. Chapter 14

Kurt sat on his bed and stared out the window to the darkness outside, seeing nothing. When he had finally been able to move, to do something other than just stand and stare in horror at the spot where the demon had previously stood, he had spun on his heel and, shaking off Blaine, had run upstairs and locked himself in his room. Blaine had started knocking on the door less than a minute later, calling out to him, asking him to let him in, and had been joined by a concerned-sounding Wes after about ten minutes. The knocking and voices pleading him to open the door had stopped around half an hour ago, but Kurt knew Blaine was still outside his room. He had heard Trent try and persuade him to go back to his own room and give Kurt some time and space a few minutes ago, but Blaine had refused to move. Kurt's phone had been buzzing on and off with calls and texts since he had locked himself in his room, most of which he knew without looking were from Blaine.

He knew he should probably be happy that he had never been cursed, be overjoyed that he would be able to live a normal life again, to have close friends again, to treat his Dad properly, to not worry about Blaine loving him – to be Kurt again. But he remembered every cruel comment, every time he had pushed someone away, and he wondered if anyone he cared about would ever want to be near him again. What if, even without the curse, he was going to be alone for the rest of his life?

He shifted on the bed and heard something crinkle. Frowning he picked up a piece of folded paper and smoothed it out.

'Courage.'

Kurt stared down at the word and with a trembling finger traced the curves of Blaine's handwriting.

'_I'll be here for you no matter what happens, Kurt.'_

Still clutching the paper, Kurt walked over to his door and unlocked it. He heard the sound of Blaine scrambling to his feet on the other side just before he pulled the door open. He and Blaine stood staring at each other for a second. Blaine's hair was escaping from its gel and was now in ruffled curls, his mouth was tight with worry, and his eyes – which were filled with a mixture of concern and shock – lit up when he saw Kurt, as they did every time he saw him.

"Kurt..."

Kurt threw himself at Blaine, almost knocking the shorter boy over, and buried his face in his shoulder. Blaine held Kurt against him, murmuring something that Kurt couldn't discern. When Kurt finally loosened his grip on Blaine he took the other boy's hand and led him into his room and over to sit on his bed. Before Blaine could open his mouth, Kurt spoke.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry it took me so long to remember that I wasn't alone, that I had someone who cared about me."

Blaine's eyes softened. "Kurt, I'm not the only person who cares about you. Your Dad cares about you, your friends here do, and I'm sure there are people at your old school who care about you."

Kurt shook his head. "No, I made sure they wouldn't."

"You were trying to stop your Dad caring about you too much, but I can assure you he loves you as much now as he did before you met that demon." Blaine squeezed Kurt's hand. "Your old friends at McKinley will still care about you, you just need to get back in contact with them and repair your relationships."

Kurt bit his lip. "How can I do that though? How can I fix things after everything I said and did to them?"

"I'll help you." Blaine rubbed his thumb across Kurt's knuckles.

Kurt smiled at him. "Thank you." His smile quickly slipped from his face. "I can't believe the curse was fake. All this time I thought I was stupid for opening that box and getting cursed – and it was stupid opening it – but I was _even more_ stupid and gullible thinking the curse was real."

"You couldn't have known that! You knew nothing about demons; you didn't even know they _existed_! How were you supposed to know that it wasn't possible for that demon to have cursed you?"

Kurt sighed, frustrated with himself. "I don't know. I should have been smart like you and done research."

"But we did research and never found anything like that. Besides, your Mom died that night just like the curse said, so of course you believed it."

Kurt's face crinkled into a frown. "How did my Mom die then if it wasn't the curse? The demon said it sensed she was dying."

"Didn't your Dad ever tell you how she died?" Blaine asked.

Kurt shook his head. "No, he never did. I've no idea why..."

"This weekend we're going to go to your house and find out the truth about your Mom and then you can start getting back in contact with your McKinley friends."

"How do I explain how I've been acting these last four years to everyone? I can't just tell them about the demon, they'll never believe me." Kurt searched Blaine's face, hoping he had an idea to help him because he had nothing.

"I think you should tell your Dad the truth, I'm sure he'll believe you. He may be a little angry that you kept it from him for four years, but I'm sure he'll understand. As for what to tell your friends, I'm not sure." Blaine admitted. "But we'll think of something."

Kurt nodded. "You're right." He shifted closer to Blaine and rested his head on his shoulder. "Thank you," he whispered. "You help me with so much."

Blaine pressed a kiss to Kurt's forehead. "You're welcome."

* * *

><p>"Ready?"<p>

Blaine and Kurt had just arrived at Kurt's house. They were spending the weekend there to allow Kurt to find out the truth behind his Mother's death and to start repairing the relationships with his Dad and old McKinley friends. It had taken Kurt over twenty minutes to persuade his Dad to let Blaine stay at their house. Blaine had told Kurt that he was happy to just drive to Lima on Saturday and Sunday, but Kurt had insisted that he stay over.

Kurt opened his car door. "I'm ready."

Blaine got out of the car, grabbed his bag from the back, and went to walk up to the front door, but Kurt stopped him by placing a hand on his arm.

Kurt's eyes flicked to his house. "I think we should keep the fact that we're dating from my Dad for now."

"Are you sure? Wouldn't it be better to tell him the truth? I'm pretty sure he has guessed we are together anyway."

Kurt's eyes were still on the house. "Yes, he's _guessed_, but he still doesn't know for certain and if we tell him he'll hang over us the whole weekend to make sure we don't get up to anything he deems inappropriate."

Blaine smirked at his boyfriend. "Are you planning on doing something inappropriate?"

Kurt slapped his arm. "Shut up." He hissed, blushing.

Blaine saw Burt's face appear at the window. Kurt, following his gaze, sighed. "Come on."

He led the way up to the door which was thrown open before they even reached it, revealing Burt. Kurt dropped his bag and threw his arms around his Dad, hugging him tightly. Burt looked surprised, but he held Kurt against him for a moment before pulling back.

"It's great to see you too, Kurt." He said gruffly.

Kurt smiled at him, ducking his head quickly, but not before Blaine caught a glimpse of his tear-filled eyes.

"Nice to see you again, Blaine." Burt nodded at him.

Blaine smiled at him as Kurt bent to pick up his bag, trying to discreetly wipe his eyes on his sleeve. "You too, Mr. Hummel."

"It's Burt, kid." He told him, as Kurt straightened up. He moved aside to let the two boys into the house.

"We'll quickly go put our stuff upstairs." Kurt took a step towards the stairs.

"I got the spare room ready for Blaine." Burt said pointedly.

"Thank you for letting me stay." Blaine said, as he went to follow Kurt up the stairs.

* * *

><p>Kurt went to the effort of cooking his Dad's favourite meal for dinner. He knew his Dad would know that something was up when he saw what was for dinner, especially as Kurt wasn't making the healthier alternative, but it was worth trying to put him in a good mood seeing as Kurt was going to reveal that he had been keeping a huge secret from him for the last four years – even if the whole thing had been fake.<p>

Blaine entered the kitchen just as Kurt was putting the finishing touches to the meal.

"Is it ready to be served?" He asked, joining Kurt by the stove.

Kurt nodded at the dishes on the counter next to him. "You can put those on the table and tell my Dad dinner is ready. I'll bring this through in a minute."

Blaine left the kitchen with the dishes after giving Kurt a swift kiss on the cheek – Kurt could feel the spot where his lips had touched him tingling and he knew he was blushing.

He switched off the stove, spooned the food into a dish, and carried it through to the table where his Dad and Blaine were just sitting down. His Dad raised his eyebrows when he saw the food that was on the table, but said nothing. Kurt waited until after they had finished eating before he brought up the subject of the demon. He met Blaine's eyes across the table and he smiled encouragingly at him. He took a deep breath, wishing he hadn't told Blaine to sit across from him so he could hold his hand.

"Dad?"

Burt turned his head to look at him.

"I- I have something I need to tell you." Kurt chewed on his bottom lip.

Burt's eyes flicked between the two teenage boys at the table. "Finally admitting the two of you are dating?"

Kurt felt his face heat up. "No! No, we're not dating." He avoided looking at Blaine.

Burt still didn't look convinced. "Right. So, what is it then?"

"Uh, well-" He glanced nervously at Blaine, who smiled and nodded. "Remember four years ago when you asked me to clear out the attic?"

"And you grumbled and moaned about it for hours before finally giving in?"

Kurt wiped his damp palms on his jeans. "Uh, yeah. But when I was up in the attic I found an old wooden box. I opened it and a- a demon came out."

Burt's face wrinkled up in confusion. "A _what_ came out?" He bent closer to Kurt to hear him better.

Kurt expelled a breath. "A demon."

Burt sat back in his chair and closed his eyes. "A demon." He repeated in a low mutter, he kneaded his forehead with his hand.

Kurt watched him anxiously, worrying at his bottom lip with his teeth and wiping his sweaty hands on his jeans again. Out the corner of his eye he saw Blaine watching Burt apprehensively.

"Dad?" Kurt said tentatively.

Burt lowered his hand and opened his eyes to look at his son. "This isn't a wind-up is it? This _actually happened_?" His voice was slightly dazed.

Kurt nodded. "I'm afraid so."

"And what happened after this demon appeared?"

Kurt hesitated, licking his dry lips. "It- well, it cursed me."

Burt sat up straight. "It _what_?" He shouted.

Kurt and Blaine both winced.

"You got cursed by a- by a _demon _years ago and you never told me?"

"The curse was fake! I was never actually cursed." Kurt said quickly.

Burt still looked annoyed. "But you must have believed it was real at the time, otherwise you would have told me about it."

"I-" Kurt faltered, looking over to Blaine for support.

"He only found out that the curse was false a few days ago." Blaine explained smoothly, though he recoiled slightly when Burt directed his furious glare on him. "Kurt never told you about the curse because he was trying to protect you. If you knew about it, the curse would have killed you."

"The curse said that anyone who loved me would die." Kurt continued. "That's why I avoided you and behaved horribly towards you, that's why I had no friends at McKinley."

The anger disappeared from his Dad's face and was replaced by sadness. "You were trying to make sure no one loved you." He sounded weary. "Kurt, I couldn't _ever _not love you, you know that don't you?"

Kurt stared down at the table, tears blurring his vision. "I do," his voice was thick with tears. "Even when I thought I was cursed I did, deep down. But I still thought that I could stop you from loving me by acting how I did."

"Kurt..." His Dad got up and pulled him into a hug. Kurt wrapped his arms around him, the tears now sliding down his face. Over his Dad's shoulder he saw Blaine leave the room to give them some privacy.

Kurt pulled back from his Dad, wiping at his cheeks. "The reason I believed the curse was real was because it said that it would kill someone who loved me that night, and Mom died later that night."

His Dad pulled out the chair next to him and sat down. "Your Mom died of a heart attack. If you'd told me about the demon I-" He broke off, shaking his head. "I understand why you didn't tell me. I should have told you how your Mother died, but I thought you were too young and distraught enough as it was. When you were older I should have told you, but I didn't want to bring it all up again and upset you." He rubbed a hand across his face.

Kurt laced his shaking hands together, trying to take everything in and push away the memories of the time of his Mom's death and the feelings of grief. "At least I know the truth now."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, both wrapped up in their own thoughts and memories.

"I'm guessing Blaine knows all about the curse." His Dad broke the silence.

Kurt nodded hesitantly, knowing they were heading towards him having to lie to his Dad again. "His History teacher – she's the one who helped me find out that the curse was false – knows all about demons and likes to talk about them, so Blaine guessed."

"He guessed that you thought you were cursed?" Burt asked sceptically.

"He guessed that I had encountered a demon and I had to admit to the rest. He was the one who insisted I tried to get the curse removed. If it hadn't been for him, I would still believe the curse was real."

His Dad's eyes flicked to the door through to the living room which Blaine had disappeared through earlier. "And you two aren't dating?"

"No, we're just friends." Knowing his Dad could see the blush on his face, he added, "I like him though."

His Dad considered him for a moment. "From the way he looks at you, I think he feels the same way."

"I think so too."

"If you do decide to get your acts together and tell each other, keep it appropriate whilst you're in this house."

Kurt blushed again as his Dad nodded at him and left the room. 

* * *

><p><strong>AN: ** Huge thank you once again to everyone reading and reviewing!

I have a ridiculous amount of coursework due next week so the next update will be on Thursday.


	16. Chapter 15

Kurt woke up on Sunday feeling a great sense of relief and freedom. It took a few seconds for the last vestiges of sleep to leave his head and him to remember why he felt this way. He had told his Dad the truth; he no longer had to hide from him. Except that he and Blaine were dating. He felt bad about that but he knew his Dad would barely leave him and Blaine alone if he knew they were together – it was bad enough now when he only suspected it. Still, it nagged at him that he was still keeping a secret from his Dad.

Pushing his bedding back he got up and headed for the bathroom to get ready for the day. As he did his hair the nerves for what he was planning to do today began to kick in. He hadn't spoken to anyone from New Directions in months, and the last time he had spoken to any of them he hadn't exactly been pleasant. Hearing a knock on his bedroom door he left the bathroom, giving his hair one last tweak before hurrying to answer the door.

"Morning!" Blaine greeted him cheerfully, the usual huge grin on his face.

"Sleep well?" Kurt's smile matched the one on Blaine's face.

"Very well, thanks."

They went to the kitchen for breakfast to find Burt already up and drinking coffee at the table.

"Morning boys," He said without looking up from his paper.

Kurt turned to Blaine. "I feel like making pancakes, do you want pancakes?" He began pulling ingredients out of the fridge.

"I love pancakes!" Blaine appeared at Kurt's side at the counter. "Can I help?"

Kurt eyed him critically. "Can you cook?"

Blaine pretended to look insulted. "Of course I can cook." He muttered something else under his breath but Kurt decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and handed him a bowl and set him to work.

* * *

><p>"I'm stuffed," Blaine announced from where he was sprawled on his back on Kurt's bed. "Your pancakes are amazing."<p>

When Kurt didn't say anything in reply he sat up quickly. Kurt was sitting in front of his laptop, drumming his fingers nervously on his desk. Blaine moved over to stand beside him. "What's wrong?"

Kurt fidgeted with the hem of his shirt. "I deleted the phone numbers of everyone from New Directions, so I'm going to have to try and contact them through Facebook. I'm not sure if I feel better or worse about that."

Blaine placed a hand on Kurt's shoulder, rubbing it comfortingly as Kurt opened up Facebook.

"I haven't used Facebook in months." Kurt commented as he typed Mercedes' name into the search bar. He clicked on her profile and scanned down the page, frowning slightly.

"Looks like the New Directions are doing a performance at a charity event this afternoon." Blaine said, pointing at the screen.

Kurt sighed. "I guess it would be better if I did this face-to-face, but it's a lot more nerve-wracking facing all of them at once, especially after a performance.

Blaine rubbed at his chin with the hand that wasn't resting on Kurt's shoulder, his eyes still on the post on Mercedes' wall about the performance. "Surely they will all split up at some point, even if it's only when they are about to go home, you can go talk to Mercedes then."

Kurt nodded slowly. "Alright." He jotted down the details of the charity event and then shut down his laptop. He stared down at the piece of paper he had just written on before suddenly reaching out and pulling Blaine down onto his lap, causing Blaine to yelp in surprise. "You're so small." Kurt remarked, resting his head on Blaine's.

Blaine tried to pout but the effect was lost when he shivered as Kurt started playing with his hair.

"Do you know what you're going to say to Mercedes?" Blaine asked, tracing patterns on Kurt's arm.

"I have an idea, yes." Kurt wound one of Blaine's curls around his finger. "You really shouldn't plaster your hair to your head with gel; your hair looks good without it. Plus all that gel combined with your outfits makes you look about twelve."

Blaine raised a hand to touch his hair self-consciously. "I feel scruffy when I don't have gel on." He chose to ignore Kurt's last comment.

"It's hot when you're scruffy." Kurt's voice was low and husky, causing Blaine to shudder.

Turning his head to the side, Blaine pressed a kiss to the soft skin of Kurt's neck and felt Kurt let out a shuddering breath. Kurt placed a hand under Blaine's chin to tilt his head up before bending down to kiss him, his mouth moving slowly against Blaine's. Just when the kiss began to get a little more heated, there was the sound of footsteps on the stairs and Kurt and Blaine jumped apart, Blaine leaping off Kurt's lap and throwing himself down onto the bed.

Burt appeared in the doorway, peering a little suspiciously into the room. "What are your plans for today?" He surveyed the two boys with narrowed eyes.

Blaine tried not to look too flustered and fought against the blush threatening to stain his cheeks after almost being caught as Burt's eyes swept over him.

"New Directions are performing at a charity event today so we're going to go to that and I'm going to try and get back in contact with my old friends." Kurt somehow managed to sound nonchalant – Blaine guessed he must be a pretty good actor from years of pretending he didn't care about people.

Burt nodded. "That's good, I'm glad you're making amends with them."

There were several long minutes of awkward silence.

"I'll leave you boys to it then." Burt turned and headed back down the stairs.

Kurt rolled his eyes at Blaine. "He doesn't trust us to be alone together without having sex one little bit."

Blaine coughed and looked away, the blush he had managed to keep at bay finally colouring his face.

* * *

><p>The park where the charity event was being held was crowded by the time Kurt and Blaine arrived. Stalls selling food, drinks, and trinkets formed a large horseshoe shape with a small stage in the centre on which, Kurt presumed, the New Directions would be performing later. This was Lima's largest charity event and Kurt was both surprised and impressed that his old Glee club had managed to be able to perform here – he imagined it was mostly Rachel's doing, she could be extremely persuasive.<p>

The colourful bunting strung between the trees flapped in the gentle breeze as Kurt and Blaine walked slowly down the nearest line of stalls, weaving their way around people carrying bags, a family pushing a stroller, and a line of young children waiting at a face-painting stall. As they neared the stage, Kurt spotted a sign announcing the acts and their performing times erected next to it. With Blaine hurrying through the crowd behind him, Kurt approached the sign, scanning down the various acts until he saw the New Directions.

"They're performing at 2.30." He told Blaine, pointing at the sign. "What time is it now?"

Blaine checked his watch. "1.45pm."

"We can look around the stalls until then." Kurt said as he and Blaine moved away from the stage.

They made their way around the stalls, Kurt nervously keeping an eye out for any members of New Directions; he only wanted to talk to Mercedes today, he couldn't face the others yet. A teenage couple cut across in front of them and Kurt watched them stroll over to a food stall hand-in-hand jealously. He wished he could hold Blaine's hand in public without having to worry about disgusted looks or comments. Blaine smiled sadly when Kurt met his eyes and Kurt knew he was thinking the same thing.

When 2.30pm drew closer, Kurt and Blaine made their way over to the stage where a small crowd had already begun to gather in anticipation of the upcoming performance. Kurt stood at the back of the crowd behind a group of fairly tall people so he couldn't be easily seen from the stage. He supposed a good few of the New Directions would ignore him if they saw him, but he was sure some of the others would come up to him and he didn't want a group of them approaching him after they were finished performing.

Rachel was the first out on the stage to announce the New Directions. The rest of the group filed out quickly as the music started and they went on to perform several numbers, finishing with an old favourite of the group, the song that kicked off the Glee club, 'Don't Stop Believin''. A fairly large crowd had assembled in front of the stage to watch – all cheering loudly when the final song ended – and Kurt found himself feeling proud of how far his old Glee club had come. Rachel thanked the audience and asked them to continue to spend money at the stalls or donate and support the good cause, before the New Directions left the stage to a final applause.

"We'll watch and see where Mercedes goes; hopefully they'll all split up and not walk around in a big group." Blaine tugged on Kurt's sleeve, pulling him to the edge of the slowly dispersing crowd so they could see the back of the stage better.

Kurt could see Rachel standing in the centre of the group, gesturing with her hands as she spoke – probably either critiquing someone else's performance or gushing about her own. Mercedes stood near the back of the group next to Sam and was engaged in a conversation with him rather than listening to Rachel. Suddenly, the group broke up, Rachel dragging Finn off in one direction whilst everyone else drifted off in twos or threes. Kurt kept his eyes on Mercedes as she and Sam made their way over to one of the stalls, still talking.

"Hurry up and ditch peroxide head." Kurt muttered to himself as he and Blaine edged closer to Mercedes and Sam, keeping out of the pair's sight.

"Peroxide head?"

Kurt glanced over at Blaine and indicated Sam's hair with a wave of his hand. "He clearly dyes his hair."

Blaine laughed softly, shaking his head. "If you say so."

Mercedes and Sam moved over to the next stall and Kurt and Blaine followed, still keeping out of sight.

"I have three gifts, Blaine." Kurt explained, his eyes still trained on Mercedes and Sam. "My voice, my ability to spot trends in men's fashion, and my ability to know when it comes from a bottle." He nodded at Sam.

Blaine smiled at him. "Have I ever told you how adorable you are?"

"Yes, but I never tire of it."

Blaine let out a small sigh. "I would kiss you now but I doubt it would go down well here, sadly."

Kurt smiled sadly at him. "You can save it for when we are back at my house." He caught sight of Sam walking across the park out the corner of his eye, Mercedes wasn't with him.

Blaine followed his gaze. "Let's go quickly whilst she's alone!"

Kurt hesitated, his stomach churning again.

Blaine took his hand, not caring that they were in public, and pulled Kurt towards where Mercedes was standing examining some home-made jewellery for sale. "You're _not_ backing out of this now."

They reached Mercedes and Blaine let go of Kurt's hand. "Excuse me, Mercedes?"

Mercedes turned to face them, her eyes landing on Blaine first, a puzzled look crossing her face, and then she saw Kurt.

"_Kurt_?" She sounded shocked and a little wary.

Blaine nudged him slightly and Kurt cleared his throat. "Uh hey, Mercedes." She continued to stare at him. "I saw you and the rest of New Directions perform earlier – you guys were great."

Mercedes' eyes flicked to Blaine briefly before returning to Kurt. "What are you doing here? Talking to me that is. You haven't spoken to me in _months_, even when we were in Glee and classes together, and I'm pretty sure the last time you _did _talk to me you insulted me."

Kurt bit the inside of his lip. "I know this is probably too late and won't make up for everything I did and said, but I'm really sorry about all that Mercedes."

She crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow at him, her expression stony.

"I- I was going through a really rough time and I felt hopeless and isolated and I struggled to cope, so I took my pain out on other people."

Mercedes unfolded her arms, her expression now a mixture of concern, troubled, and slight annoyance. "What was wrong? And why did you never talk to me about it? I was _supposed_ to be your best friend!"

"I know, Mercedes I know. I coped with it in completely the wrong way. I was stupid, I know that now. I had friends I should have trusted and turned to for help rather than suffering in silence."

"So what was it that caused all this?" Mercedes was completely focussed on Kurt, missing Blaine shifting nervously next to him.

"It was the bullying, it was a lot worse than I told you it was and I couldn't handle it. Eventually my Dad figured out what was going on and he let me transfer to Dalton Academy." Kurt avoided looking at Blaine.

Mercedes looked troubled. "I never realised it was that bad."

"You never could have known, I never told anyone. My Dad only found out after he accidently saw the bruises on my back and I had to tell him everything. As soon as it started getting really bad I started pushing everyone away and saying hateful things to anyone who spoke to me. You have no idea how much I regret all that." He paused. "I'm sorry, Mercedes."

"Everything is better now that you're at a different school? You're happier now?"

Kurt nodded. "Dalton is really strictly against bullying so I feel safe again and I've recovered from my experiences at McKinley." He glanced briefly at Blaine. "And yes, I'm a lot happier now."

Mercedes smiled at him. "I'm glad you are." She nodded at Blaine. "Are you a friend of Kurt's from Dalton?"

Blaine held out his hand, his usual charming smile on his face. "I'm Blaine, and yes, I am a friend of Kurt's from school."

"Nice to meet you." Mercedes shook Blaine's hand. "I'm glad Kurt is making friends again." She glanced over her shoulder. "Do you want me to go fetch Rachel or any of the others?"

Kurt shook his head. "No, I can't face anyone else today. I'll talk to them all eventually, but I just wanted to talk to you to begin with."

"How about we meet up for coffee tomorrow? If you want I could bring Rachel so you aren't facing her on your own."

Kurt hesitated then nodded; there was no point in dragging it out much longer. "Ok, how about we meet around eleven?" He glanced at Blaine again. "Do you mind if Blaine comes?"

"Eleven is fine, and Blaine can come if he wants."

Kurt nodded. "Good, well we'll see you and Rachel tomorrow. Oh, and I would prefer you kept this to yourself for now, if you need to tell Rachel then do it at the last minute as she can sometimes struggle with keeping things secret."

Mercedes smiled at him. "No problem, Kurt." Her gaze switched to something over Kurt's shoulder and Kurt knew without looking that it would be Sam walking towards them. "I'll see you both tomorrow." She gave them both one last smile before going to meet Sam.

* * *

><p>Blaine looked on as Kurt searched through his DVD collection looking for a movie for them to watch.<p>

"'Chicago'? 'The Wizard of Oz'? 'When Harry Met Sally'?" He held up each of the DVDs in turn.

Blaine shifted position slightly. "Why did you use the bullying as your way of explaining why you acted like you did? I know the part about your Dad seeing your bruises and letting you transfer was true, but I personally don't think I could use being bullied, something that affected me so much both physically and emotionally, in that way."

Kurt set the DVDs down, his shoulders drooping. "I didn't want to but it was the only thing I could think of that they would believe."

Blaine got off the bed and sat next to Kurt, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and pulling him against his chest. "I'm not judging you or angry at you for doing it – I know that you're been through a really hard time – I was just surprised."

"I hated doing it, but it was the only thing I could think of and I couldn't tell the truth." Kurt mumbled into Blaine's chest.

Blaine rubbed Kurt's back and placed a kiss on his forehead. "It's ok, Kurt I understand. I couldn't think of anything for you to tell them so I have no right to call you out for it."

"If you had done it I would have reacted the same way." Kurt lightly traced a line down Blaine's chest with his finger, smiling softly when it caused Blaine to shiver.

"I think we should watch 'When Harry Met Sally'." Blaine pulled the DVD out of the pile in front of them with his free hand.

Kurt smiled and moved to put the movie on. "'When Harry Met Sally' it is." 

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **I don't know why Blaine felt the need to up his gel usage when he started at McKinley. He looked older with less gel and the blazer and now he's got more gel and the bowties he looks really young. It's cute but he should cut back on the gel a bit.

Thanks to everyone reading and reviewing! I'm still getting new people getting alerts or favouriting so that's awesome!

Next chapter, in which Kurt and Blaine have coffee with Mercedes and Rachel, will be posted on Sunday.


	17. Chapter 16

The sunlight streaming through a gap in the curtains woke Kurt on Sunday morning and he rolled over with a groan. He wasn't ready to face today – to face Rachel. He knew that Mercedes would be a lot more understanding of his situation and would be more willing to put the past behind them and move on, which is why he had wanted to see her first, but Rachel was bound to make a bigger deal of it and be less eager to forgive and forget.

Kurt turned his head to look at the small collection of photo frames that stood on the cabinet by his bed. In the largest frame was a photo of him and his parents, taken a few months before his Mom had died, a picture of the Warblers after the performance at the nursing home stood next to this. On the other side was the most recent picture – taken by Wes just a few days ago – of him and Blaine pulling goofy faces at the camera. Hidden at the back and covered with a light layer of dust was a photo of the New Directions after their first Sectionals win. Sitting up, Kurt picked the frame up, brushing dust away with his fingers, and examined it. A wistful smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he took in the smiling faces of his old Glee club. Kurt stood in between Rachel – who was in the centre of the photo – and Mercedes, his arms around both of them, a smile on his face. His own smile faded when he remembered that it was not long after this moment that he had become worried that people, Rachel and Mercedes in particular, were beginning to care about him too much. He remembered struggling with pushing everyone away at first and he would go home every night hating himself, but after a while he got used to it and the bitchy comments and petty insults came naturally, and being by himself all the time felt like second nature. It got harder when the bullying escalated and got a lot worse. It was hard having no one to turn to for support, to have no one to tell him that he wasn't alone and that it would get better, but he eventually learned to cope with that on his own as well. Once or twice he did think about just ending it all – at the time he didn't believe anyone would care if he did – and singing was the only thing that kept him going through those dark times, though it was touch and go at some points.

Pushing those memories to the back of his head and replacing the photo on his cabinet, he got out of bed and hurried to his bathroom, hoping a shower would be able to wash away all the lingering traces of the memories of one of the darkest periods of his life.

* * *

><p>"Should I be scared about meeting Rachel? She sounds pretty full-on." Blaine watched Kurt flick on the indicator and turn off the street his house was on.<p>

"That's one way of describing her." Kurt fumbled for his sunglasses as the sun came out from behind a cloud, reflecting off the car in front and dazzling them. Blaine picked up Kurt's glasses and passed them to him. "Thanks." Kurt slid them on, shaking his head at Blaine's bright yellow pair.

Kurt concentrated on the road for a minute. "Rachel will probably be too occupied with what I'm going to be telling her to pay much attention to you, and I wouldn't be surprised if she storms out once I've finished telling her – Rachel loves making a dramatic exit."

The Lima Bean came into view and Kurt slowed the car, preparing to turn off. He parked the car and they got out, Kurt hanging back slightly as they neared the doors.

"I can't see Mercedes anywhere." Blaine informed him as he opened the door to the coffee shop. He glanced at his watch. "We are a few minutes early, they maybe aren't here yet."

Kurt followed him up to the counter where they ordered their usual coffees and then found a table. Kurt sat facing the door and would look up every time the door opened.

"Relax, Kurt." Blaine told him, laying a hand briefly on top of his. "It will be-"

"Oh god, here they are."

Blaine turned in his seat to see Mercedes walking through the door, her eyes scanning the customers in the shop. Spotting Kurt and Blaine, she smiled. Coming through the door behind her was a shorter, dark-haired girl dressed in a sweater with a poodle on the front – she had a determined, confident air about her. The two girls stopped at the counter to get their coffees before Mercedes led the way over to Kurt and Blaine's table. Kurt jiggled his leg nervously as they drew nearer and Blaine fiddled with the lid on his coffee cup when Rachel's gaze landed on Kurt and her eyes narrowed slightly.

"I honestly wasn't sure you guys would be here." Mercedes admitted as she sat down - Kurt switching seats so he was next to Blaine with the two girls across from them.

Kurt smiled tightly. "I said I had changed and wanted to start over again and I meant it. I really want to have our friendship back."

"Me too." Mercedes smiled at him and took a sip of her coffee.

Kurt peered anxiously at Rachel over the top of his coffee. "Rachel, this is my friend Blaine."

Blaine smiled and held a hand across the table to the girl, who was eyeing the pair of them sceptically, one eyebrow slightly raised. She reluctantly shook Blaine's hand, letting go quickly. There were several long minutes of uncomfortable silence, during which Kurt and Blaine shot each other a few anxious glances, Mercedes sipped her coffee, and Rachel stared stonily at Kurt, only breaking her gaze to take a drink.

Rachel broke the silence, surprising Blaine. "Well, Kurt you might as well start explaining why you ditched me and our friendship and chose instead to spend your days ignoring me or sneering at my outfits and personality. Mercedes was sketchy on the details when she talked to me last night and she had to _promise_ not to fight me for the next solo to get me to come here today."

Blaine raised his eyebrows, inwardly wincing at what Kurt was having to deal with.

Kurt took a deep breath and met Rachel's hostile glare before beginning to explain, telling Rachel everything he had told Mercedes yesterday. Blaine watched Rachel's face whilst Kurt talked; when Kurt began to describe how bad the bullying was and how he had felt alone and struggled to cope with it all, Rachel's expression turned stony again and she said nothing when Kurt finished talking.

More awkward silence followed this where no one seemed to know what to do or say. Kurt was watching Rachel, biting the inside of his lip, his expression bordering on heartbroken. Blaine took his hand under the table, lacing their fingers together and Kurt returned the pressure, smiling at him gratefully.

Mercedes set her coffee down. "So, are you two dating? I know you said that you were friends but..." She trailed off, her eyes flicking between Kurt and Blaine, a smirk spreading across her face when identical blushes stained Kurt and Blaine's faces.

"I- I- we- well, we-" Kurt spluttered, his eyes darting around the room to avoid the gazes of everyone else at the table. Rachel was now watching them expressionlessly.

Blaine licked his lips. "We-" He broke off when Kurt gave his hand a light squeeze, and the denial he had been about to say died on his lips – Kurt wanted to tell the truth. "Yes," Blaine admitted, "we're dating."

Mercedes smiled in delight. "I _knew_ it! I'm so happy for you two! You are so cute together!"

Blaine exchanged a quick smile with Kurt, running his thumb over Kurt's knuckles.

"I really can't believe you never trusted me enough to tell me that you were struggling and being tormented." Rachel broke the moment, the atmosphere around the table turning tense again. "All those times you slept over at my house and we had long conversations into the night and shared secrets and you _never_ mentioned it. I thought we were best friends, Kurt." She finished, her voice small.

"We- we were, but you heard what I said, you know why I didn't tell anyone." He said desperately, his eyes begging Rachel to understand.

Blaine watched the scene unfold anxiously. Kurt had been right, Rachel was taking this _a lot_ worse than Mercedes had, the short girl looked to be on the verge of storming out, and Blaine could see the deep hurt in her dark eyes.

"Rachel," Blaine leant towards her slightly across the table, "Kurt never broke off your friendship intentionally. I've been in a similar situation to him – I was bullied at a previous school – so I know how hopeless you feel, how helpless. At the time, neither of us had someone who knew _exactly_ what it was like, who truly understood what we were going through, to help us, to tell us that we were worth something, to give us hope. It's really easy to slip into despair and to feel like it won't get better, that you'll feel like this forever, and to slip away into yourself – to isolate yourself." All eyes were on Blaine as he spoke, the defiance and anger on Rachel's face was gone, replaced by sadness, concern, and a bit of shock. "You start to feel like the whole world is against you and eventually, this leads to anger at the world – at everything."

Silence followed Blaine's speech and he blinked back tears as he took a drink of coffee for something to do whilst everyone at the table continued to stare at him.

"I didn't realise..." Rachel sat back in her chair, looking disturbed. She exchanged a quick look with Mercedes whose expression almost mirrored Rachel's. "I've never really been bullied before – I get picked on for being in Glee but that's nothing. I didn't realise how bad it could be, how you would feel." She paused. "I'm so sorry, Kurt."

"It's fine." Kurt said quickly before Rachel could say anything else.

The rest of their meeting was more enjoyable. They talked mostly about Glee – Rachel, Mercedes, and Kurt discussing everything they had sung since they had last seen each other. Rachel was reluctant about discussing songs they were currently working on seeing as they would be competing against each other, so the conversation changed to Dalton – both Rachel and Mercedes were interested in hearing how it differed from McKinley. After a while, Rachel announced that she had to leave and they all decided to follow suit, arranging to meet up next week at Kurt and Blaine's usual coffee shop near Dalton seeing as Kurt and Blaine would be staying at Dalton that weekend to prepare for Sectionals. They said their goodbyes outside the Lima Bean before they split to their cars, Kurt and Blaine heading across the deserted car park with their hands linked, Kurt looking the happiest Blaine had seen him all weekend.

* * *

><p>Kurt snuggled closer to Blaine. "Thank you for coming to my rescue in the coffee shop today, for saying all that, for explaining it all."<p>

"No problem." He murmured into Kurt's ear, his breath causing Kurt to shiver. "I thought Mercedes would have taken it worse seeing as you were closer to her than you were with Rachel, but you were right, Rachel is very intense."

"I did warn you." Kurt picked up the DVD remote. "I'm glad my Dad is out so we can cuddle whilst watching a movie."

Blaine gave him a quick kiss. "Me too, but I think you should tell your Dad about us soon."

Kurt felt his stomach twist with guilt from his Dad still being lied to, but he forced himself to forget about it until later. He would tell his Dad soon, right now he just wanted to enjoy some time with his boyfriend.

He was about to press play when he remembered something. "Hold on a second." He said to Blaine, getting up and hurrying over to the cabinet by his bed. He quickly adjusted the positions of the photo frames, arranging them so the one of himself and New Directions was no longer hidden and could be seen as clearly as all the other photos. Smiling, he re-joined Blaine, curled up next to him, picked up the remote, and pressed play. 

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Thanks to everyone reading and reviewing. Extra thanks to lyokodreamer and esinger for reviewing every chapter for...I don't know how long, but you guys have reviewed a lot! :)

Next Chapter on Tuesday!


	18. Chapter 17

Blaine was happy to see Kurt looking a lot more cheerful and lighter now that he was free from the curse and the heavy burden that came with it. He was spending more time with the other Warblers and becoming better friends with them. Kurt no longer had days where he didn't want to sit by the Warblers at meal times – preferring to just sit with Blaine – now they sat beside them every meal time, joining in with their conversations and joking around. Blaine knew the Warblers would have noticed the sudden change in Kurt's behaviour, but he guessed that they thought Kurt had just finally come out of his shell and was now completely comfortable in his new school and had recovered from his past experiences at McKinley – if Blaine hadn't been close to Kurt it's what he would have guessed. Kurt had started texting Mercedes and Rachel – they had given him their numbers on Sunday – and was slowly becoming friends with them again. He wasn't talking to them as often as he had done when they had been friends, but it was a step in the right direction. The only thing that still worried Blaine was that Burt was still in the dark about his and Kurt's relationship. They had talked about it over lunch one day and decided telling him in person would be better than over the phone, so they were to tell him at Sectionals that Sunday which Burt would be attending to see Kurt perform.

The Warblers were spending as much of their free time as they could rehearsing for Sectionals, the council squeezing in extra Warbler meetings whenever they could. All those extra meetings plus their usual classes and homework load meant that Kurt and Blaine didn't have any opportunities to spend some time alone together. So when Wes suggested that they spend Wednesday afternoon's meeting practicing their duet together whilst the remaining Warblers practiced the choreography for one of their other numbers as some people were still struggling with it, they jumped at the chance of having some alone time, even if they were practicing for Sectionals.

"Where should we go to rehearse?" Blaine asked as he and Kurt left the choir room.

"Your room?" Kurt suggested. "The common rooms will be too crowded at this time."

Blaine nodded, leading the way up the stairs. "Sounds good to me."

Blaine pushed open his bedroom door and stepped aside to let Kurt in. Closing the door, he stepped over to his iPod speakers. "Do you want the music on or are you alright singing without it?"

Kurt sat down on the bed. "I think we've sung it enough times to be able to do it without the music."

They sang 'Candles' through once, both smiling when they were finished.

"I think we're as close to perfect as we're going to get." Kurt said. "We really don't need this extra time to practice."

"Do you want to go back down to the meeting?"

Kurt shook his head, a small smirk appearing on his face. "We both know the choreography; we could make better use of this time."

Blaine's heart began to race and his breathing hitched as he took in the look on Kurt's face and the meaning behind his words. His eyes fluttered shut as Kurt leant forwards, brushing their lips together, and causing a shiver to run down Blaine's spine. He kept the kiss slow and soft at first, his thumb gently caressing Kurt's cheekbone, but it quickly became apparent that Kurt wanted more as he pressed himself closer to Blaine, kissing him with increasing passion and vigour. Blaine moaned against Kurt's mouth, tugging him closer by pulling on his tie, and sucked Kurt's bottom lip into his mouth. Kurt's hands were in Blaine's hair, working the curls free from the gel as he slid his tongue into Blaine's mouth. Their tongues slid together and Blaine's blazer slipped off his shoulders and fell to the floor when Kurt's hands dropped from his hair to run down his shoulders and smooth across his chest. The blood was racing through Blaine's veins, his breath was escaping his mouth in short gasps, and his hands were shaking, but he barely noticed; all he could see, hear, feel, and taste was Kurt – all he cared about was Kurt.

Blaine didn't know how he ended up hovering over Kurt whilst he placed open-mouthed kisses to the soft skin of his neck, but Kurt was somehow lying back on the bed, his blazer discarded on the floor, his tie loosened, and the top few buttons of his shirt undone.

"Blaine..." Kurt moaned as Blaine sucked and bit at Kurt's neck and collarbone. He tugged more of the buttons on Kurt's shirt open, exposing more of his pale, lightly muscled chest and stomach, and began to trail his fingers lightly over him, a path of goose bumps marking where his fingers had been. He felt Kurt pulling at the buttons on his own shirt as he kissed his way back up to Kurt's mouth. And then Kurt's hands were on him, pushing him so they rolled over onto their sides. Kurt's hands were smoothing over Blaine's stomach, his mouth on Blaine's clavicle, and he should probably be worried at how loud he had just moaned Kurt's name and if other people could hear them, but he was in complete bliss and couldn't care about anything else outside of what was happening on his bed.

Needing to kiss Kurt again, he shifted to try and capture Kurt's mouth with his. Seeing what he was trying to do, Kurt grabbed Blaine's loosened tie and pulled him whilst rolling onto his back so that Blaine was on top of him again. They kissed slightly sloppily until Kurt pulled away and moved his mouth to Blaine's ear.

"I love you." He said breathlessly.

Blaine kissed him again, this time with more passion and a little less frantically. "I love you too." He said against Kurt's lips. He felt Kurt's mouth curve up into a smile and they both smiled into another kiss.

"Hey guys, how's the- _whoa_!"

Blaine jumped away from Kurt, moving backwards on the bed until his back hit the wall. Kurt had scrambled upright, his hands immediately going to the buttons on his shirt and doing them up. His cheeks were flushed, his lips swollen, his hair tousled, and there were very obvious marks beginning to show on his neck and collarbone – Blaine knew he looked very similar.

Wes hovered awkwardly in the doorway for a moment, staring at the window to avoid looking at his two friends. "Just- just text me or something when it's- when you're finished." He stood by the door for another few seconds, his hand on the handle. "Yeah..." He backed quickly out the room, pulling the door closed behind him.

Kurt abandoned the attempt to button his shirt. "Oh, god." He groaned, leaning his head back against the headboard.

Blaine was only just starting to get his breath back. "At least we weren't on his bed."

Kurt ignored this. "I can't believe we got caught by _Wes_! We'll never hear the end of this."

Blaine shifted up the bed until he was next to Kurt. "There's always the chance he's too scarred to repeat what he saw to anyone else."

Kurt laughed, resting his head on top of Blaine's when Blaine laid his head on Kurt's shoulder. Blaine shivered as Kurt lightly traced a finger over one of the marks he had made on Blaine's collarbone. "It's a slim chance though isn't it?" He murmured.

"Very slim." Blaine agreed.

* * *

><p>"Kurt? There's a girl waiting in the foyer for you." Trent stopped Kurt and Blaine in the corridor on their way to the boarder's wing.<p>

Kurt frowned, confused. "A girl?"

Trent rubbed his chin. "I think she said her name was Rachel."

Kurt exchanged a surprised look with Blaine; what was Rachel doing at Dalton in the middle of the week asking to see Kurt?

"Thanks, Trent." Trent smiled and walked away and Kurt turned to Blaine. "You go on upstairs; I'd better go see what Rachel wants."

Blaine squeezed his shoulder briefly before heading off in the direction Trent had gone in.

When Kurt arrived in the foyer he found Rachel standing off to one side, twisting her hands together with her head down.

"Rachel, what are you doing here?"

Rachel's head shot up and Kurt recognised the expression on her face immediately, he had seen the same look reflected in his mirror everyday for the majority of the last four years – anxiety and guilt.

Rachel rushed forward to meet him. "Kurt, I'm _so, so_ sorry. I forgot that he didn't know yet. I've been putting so much time into practicing for Sectionals lately that my head was full of the competition and Glee club, and it- it just slipped my mind, and-"

Kurt cut her off; she was talking too fast and letting her mouth run away with her like she always did when she was nervous. "What are you talking about?"

Rachel bit her lip and averted her eyes, suddenly becoming very interested in smoothing out her skirt. "I- well- well, I ran into your Dad in Lima today and we started talking – he knew we had met up on Sunday – and well, I might have..." She mumbled something too low for Kurt to hear, he moved closer to her.

"You might have what?" He asked, knowing in the pit of his stomach that he wasn't going to like what she was about to say.

Rachel blew out a frustrated sigh, still avoiding Kurt's eyes. "I sort of let slip that you and Blaine are dating."

"You _what_?" Kurt shrieked, his voice shooting through several octaves.

Rachel looked like she would rather be anywhere else but here; her eyes were now darting around the foyer as if looking for an escape route.

"Rachel, you _knew_ I hadn't told my Dad yet! I told you I was waiting until a good time when I could tell him in person! I _explicitly _told you on Sunday to keep it to yourself!"

Kurt couldn't believe this was happening. He knew Rachel was a bit prone to letting things slip when she was worked up and excited about something – she tended to babble and not think about what she was saying – but she had _always_ managed to keep secrets that he and Mercedes had told her during their sleepovers to herself.

Rachel had taken a step back at his indignant shriek and was now looking pleadingly at him. "I'm _so_ sorry, Kurt."

Kurt shook his head, furious at Rachel for being a blabber-mouth and furious at himself for not listening to Blaine and telling his Dad earlier. "Mercedes managed to keep it to herself, why couldn't you?" Kurt glared down at the short girl.

Rachel stepped closer to him, but Kurt backed away. She finally tried to meet his eyes, but Kurt fixed his eyes on a point on the wall above her head, his teeth clenched to prevent him from screaming at Rachel. Now his Dad knew that he had still been keeping a secret from him, had still been lying to him.

"Kurt," she looked up at him with big, pleading eyes. "I really didn't mean to and I am so sorry, but don't you think since I forgave you for how you treated me, you should forgive me?"

"That was different, Rachel!" He shouted at her, not caring that a couple of boys crossing the foyer were looking over curiously. "I was being tormented daily and was depressed! You just let your big mouth run away with you!"

Rachel's face crumpled with hurt, but Kurt just spun on his heel to leave. "See you at Sectionals." He told her over his shoulder before striding off towards the boarder's wing. He heard her call after him but he ignored her, marching purposefully away, his hands clenched into fists by his side.

* * *

><p>Kurt strode into Blaine's room, not bothering to knock, to find Blaine sitting at his desk working through his homework whilst an amused-looking Wes sat at his desk, his books open in front of him, facing Blaine with a smirk on his face. The smirk widened when he saw Kurt.<p>

"I'll just leave you two alone together." He gathered his books together, winked suggestively at Kurt, and left the room with a shout of "Keep it PG!"

Blaine sighed and dropped his pen down onto his notebook. "He's been teasing me and making suggestive comments the whole time we were here." He spun around in his chair to face Kurt who had sat down in the chair Wes had just abandoned, looking livid. "What did Rachel want?"

Kurt blew out a heavy sigh of frustration. "She told my Dad that you and I are dating."

Blaine's eyes widened. "She _what_? When?"

"She ran into him earlier today and started rambling on about who knows what and accidently told him." Kurt ran a hand through his hair agitatedly.

"I knew we should have told your Dad on Friday night." Blaine sighed.

"I wish we had done." Kurt said wearily. "It's all my fault really, not Rachel's – though she shouldn't have told him when I told her to keep it secret – but I should have listened to you, and I should have learned my lesson about lying and keeping secrets after the curse." He pulled his phone out of his blazer pocket. "I'm surprised my Dad hasn't called me about this."

"Are you going to call him now and try to explain?" Blaine asked.

Kurt stared down at the phone, chewing on his bottom lip. "I don't know. It isn't the sort of thing I can do easily over the phone, but it really isn't a good idea to leave it until I see him at Sectionals on Sunday." He shoved his phone back in his pocket.

"We don't really have time to go to Lima before Sunday either, not with all these Warbler meetings and homework."

Kurt groaned, realising Blaine was right. "Public confrontation at Sectionals it is then." 

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **I forgot the make-out scene was in this chapter :)

Wes got Kurt and Blaine dictionaries for their Christmas that year so they could look up the meaning of the words 'practice' and 'rehearse' as they clearly don't know what they mean ;)

Thanks to everyone reading, reviewing etc etc. You guys make my day!

Next chapter will be posted on Thursday!


	19. Chapter 18

The morning of Sectionals dawned cool and crisp with a faint tinge of smoke in the air. Kurt woke early – earlier than the alarm he had set the night before – his stomach tight and feeling like it was twisting itself into knots. He felt nauseous from the mixture of the usual pre-competition nerves – doubled in intensity from the prospect of the duet – and anxiety about seeing his Dad later and knowing that he'd be admitting to lying and keeping secrets from him again. He got out of bed, willing himself not to throw up, and started to get ready. He was on his fourth attempt at doing up his tie – his shaking hands struggling to tie it properly – when his phone buzzed with a text. Abandoning his fight with his tie, he swiped his phone off the cabinet by his bed to find a text from Blaine.

'You awake?'

He quickly tapped out a reply before turning to survey his reflection critically in the mirror. Luckily, his hair was behaving today and he had managed to get it sitting perfectly despite his uncooperative hands. His phone buzzed again with a reply from Blaine telling him he was outside the room. Slipping the phone into his blazer pocket, he strode over to the door and pulled it open to reveal Blaine, looking composed and flawless as always. Blaine greeted him with a quick kiss.

"What happened to your tie?" He indicated Kurt's tie which was still hanging undone around his neck.

Kurt tugged at one end of it. "I couldn't tie it properly."

"Here, I'll do it for you." Blaine stepped closer to him and reached for his tie, beginning to tie it deftly.

Kurt watched Blaine's face as his boyfriend concentrated on his tie; his lashes looked even longer when his eyes were lowered, and Kurt could count the small number of freckles across his nose and cheeks.

"Done." Blaine raised his head and Kurt's heart took off at top speed as their eyes met. Just when he thought Blaine was going to kiss him, Blaine moved away. He smirked when he saw the disgruntled look on Kurt's face.

"Tease." Kurt muttered.

Blaine just laughed. "Want to go for a walk?" He asked, glancing at his watch. "We've got a while until breakfast."

Kurt nodded, closing his bedroom door and following Blaine along the corridor to the stairs. When they reached the bottom of the stairs Kurt grabbed Blaine's tie, pulling him in for a kiss. Blaine recovered from the surprise quickly and returned the kiss eagerly. They broke apart, panting slightly.

"That was for earlier." Kurt told him, continuing along the corridor.

Blaine hurried to catch up with him. "I'll be sure to do that more often if that's what I get." He replied, smirking.

When they reached the foyer they headed out into the grounds. Kurt inhaled deeply; the fresh, cool air of early morning and Blaine's presence making the nerves fade until they were barely noticeable. He took Blaine's hand, liking their fingers together, and they strolled away from the school, following one of the many paths that twisted through the grounds, swinging their arms between them slightly.

"I hate to break the moment," Blaine said after they had walked in peaceful, content silence for around five minutes, "but we should really talk about how we're going to tell your Dad about us and why we kept it from him."

Kurt sighed resignedly. "We should." He tipped his head back to watch a bird wheel above them, shadowed against the clear, watered-blue sky of early morning. "We're going to just tell him the truth. I'm sick of lying, of keeping secrets, of feeling guilty all the time."

"I think that's best." Blaine agreed. "Do you want to talk to him before or after the competition?"

Kurt thought about this as they turned down a new path that ran the perimeter of Dalton's grounds. Talking to his Dad before the competition started would mean that a load would be off his mind for when they performed, but he would be more nervous, and if it didn't go well then that would affect their performance and he didn't want to let the Warblers down. But, if he waited until after the competition was over and the results had been announced, he would no longer be worrying about the competition and he would be able to concentrate fully on what he was saying to his Dad.

"We'll wait until after the competition is over, that way I won't be stressing over the competition whilst I'm talking to him. I doubt we'll see him before anyway, we'll be too busy."

Blaine nodded. "Good point, we'll be in the dressing room most of the time until we go to watch the first performance."

They walked in comfortable silence for several minutes, the sun slowly beginning to heat up.

Kurt looked over at Blaine. "Are you nervous?"

"A little," Blaine shrugged. "Judging from your tie earlier, I'm guessing you're worse."

"This will be my first competition solo." Kurt grimaced. "Feel free to laugh at the guy who wants to study musical theatre when he leaves school who turns into a trembling mess at the thought of singing at a show choir competition."

Blaine smiled at him, squeezing his hand. "I think it's adorable, I think _you're_ adorable. Besides, being nervous before a competition is normal."

An answering smile spread across Kurt's face. "Let's go get some breakfast!"

* * *

><p>The foyer outside the theatre where the competition was being held was packed when the Warblers squeezed through the doors. Spectators, friends, and family members of those competing – most of them clutching programmes – excitedly discussed the competition, causing a great tide of noise that hit Blaine like a tidal wave when he entered the building alongside Kurt. Wes and David were at the front of the group and were trying to work their way through the crowd to get to the dressing room, but were having little success. The rest of the Warblers stuck close behind them, walking in the gap in the crowd they had created. The crowds thinned as they moved further away from the doors into the theatre and closer to the dressing rooms. They were almost at their dressing room when someone called Kurt's name.<p>

"Kurt?"

Kurt and Blaine both turned, peering in the direction the voice had come from whilst the rest of the Warblers continued on into the dressing room. Rachel suddenly appeared around a small group of adults trailed by a tall, dark-haired boy who had obviously been the one to shout Kurt's name as the voice had been male and there was no way Rachel could have seen over the crowd.

Kurt nodded stiffly at Rachel, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Hello, Finn." He said a little awkwardly to the tall boy.

Finn was frowning down at Kurt, looking confused. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm a member of the Warblers so I'm competing."

Rachel spoke up. "Kurt, can I talk to-"

"Don't start trying to apologise, Rachel I'm not in the mood."

"Wait," Finn held a hand up, looking even more puzzled as he glanced between Rachel and Kurt, "you guys are friends again?"

Kurt opened his mouth to speak but Rachel beat him to it. "Yes, we are. We met up on Sunday and are re-building our friendship."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Finn asked Rachel.

"Oh, so you manage to keep your mouth shut around _Finn_ but you couldn't keep something that I expressly told you to keep quiet about from my Dad?" Kurt scoffed.

"Kurt-"

Kurt shook his head, stepping away from Rachel and taking Blaine's hand. "I have too much on my mind right now to deal with this." He started to pull Blaine towards the Warblers' dressing room. "Good luck today." He added over his shoulder, all but dragging Blaine into their dressing room.

"Where have you two been?" David asked when the door shut behind Kurt and Blaine.

Wes was smirking so Blaine spoke before he could say anything, asking something he knew would distract Wes. "What order are we performing in?"

"We're last," Wes told him, the smirk disappearing from his face as he went back into council-mode. "The New Directions are first and the Hipsters are second. Which means we'll be able to watch all of the New Directions' performance and only the start of the Hipsters' one before we have to come back here to get ready." Wes checked his watch. "The competition's starting soon, time to go into the theatre."

Wes led the group into the theatre and they filed into their seats. Blaine noticed Kurt looking around the audience nervously, and knew he was searching for his Dad. He took Kurt's hand just as the lights dimmed and squeezed it reassuringly. Kurt smiled at him and abandoned his frantic searching of the audience.

The judges were introduced and then the New Directions were announced. Blaine watched them perform anxiously, knowing that they were probably going to be their biggest competition, and he was right – the New Directions were really good and Blaine found it hard to fault their performance. The next group – judging from the first few minutes of their performance – weren't as good. As they continued to sing, the Warblers quickly and quietly left the theatre and went into their dressing room to tidy themselves up and prepare to go out on stage. Wes came over to where Blaine was standing with Kurt, Trent, Nick, and Jeff.

"Now, Jeff remember you turn _left_-"

"I know! I know! I messed up_ one _time, Wes _one time_! I won't do it again."

Wes surveyed him critically for a moment. "Just make sure you don't." He walked over to where Thad and David were and Jeff rolled his eyes at his retreating back.

Kurt started to fidget as their performance time drew closer and Blaine tried to reassure him by gently stroking the back of his hand with his thumb, though his own nerves were building.

Finally, Wes said it was time and led them out to the stage. Just before Blaine went to get into position, he gave Kurt a quick kiss. "Good luck, you'll be amazing, you always are."

Kurt smiled and opened his mouth to reply but Wes cut him off. "Quit being so sickeningly cute and loved-up or you'll make me throw up in front of the judges."

Blaine sighed as Wes moved away. "Nerves make him so tetchy."

"Blaine, position!"

Giving Kurt a quick pat on the shoulder, Blaine took his position on the stage. He heard the Warblers being announced, the curtain rose, and their performance began.

* * *

><p>Kurt could barely remember the performance when the curtain went down as the crowd continued to cheer and applaud them. All he could remember was his gaze being connected with Blaine's for the majority of their 'Candles' duet, the look on Blaine's face as he sang to him, the pounding of his own heart and the rush of blood through his veins from his love for his boyfriend and the knowledge that Blaine loved him too. It had probably been obvious that there was something between him and Blaine to everyone watching, and he doubted everyone in the audience approved of gay couples, but he didn't care. He wouldn't even really care if they lost, the feelings he had as he sang on stage were a lot better than a trophy.<p>

As soon as the curtain was fully down, Blaine flew at him, enveloping him in a hug and saying something about how incredible he was which he couldn't hear properly over the sounds of the rest of the Warblers congratulating each other before coming over to praise Kurt and Blaine.

They were called back out onto the stage not long after with the other two show choirs. Kurt stood next to Blaine on the furthest side away from the New Directions, wanting to avoid the stares he could feel flashing in his direction every now and then. One of the judges came out on stage to announce the winners, with third place going to the Hipsters. He opened the first place envelope.

"The winner of the Western Ohio Sectionals competition is..." He paused dramatically. "It's a tie between McKinley's New Directions and the Dalton Academy Warblers! Congratulations, you're both going to Regionals!"

Kurt gaped at the judge – he'd never heard of a draw before. Around him the Warblers were cheering and hugging each other and Kurt was soon engulfed from behind in a Warbler group hug. He cheered along with the rest of his friends, ecstatic that they had made it to Regionals. Blaine threw an arm around his shoulders from where he was pressed against him by the other Warblers as Wes broke away from the group to accept the trophy. Wes held the trophy up over the celebrating Warblers and Kurt was vaguely aware of the New Directions celebrating on the other side of the stage.

They eventually returned to their dressing room. The rest of the Warblers were too busy excitedly planning celebrations for when they got back to Dalton to notice Kurt and Blaine leaving the room. Kurt knew his Dad would be waiting for him somewhere, even if the whole drama with Kurt, Blaine, and Rachel hadn't happened he still would have waited to congratulate his son after the competition. Kurt's phone buzzed in his blazer pocket and he pulled it out to find a text from his Dad.

"My Dad is waiting in the foyer." He told Blaine as they walked down the corridor the dressing rooms were on. Blaine said nothing to this, just took Kurt's hand, and Kurt knew that Blaine was as nervous about this as he was.

His Dad stood waiting in a quiet corner away from where a few remaining audience members were discussing the competition. Kurt went to draw his hand out of Blaine's, but seeing as his Dad already knew about their relationship, it didn't matter if they held hands, so instead he tightened his grip on Blaine's hand. He couldn't read the expression on his Dad's face when he and Blaine stopped in front of him and though he had rehearsed several explanations to tell his Dad, Kurt suddenly found his mind blank now that he was faced with the prospect of actually talking to him.

"Congratulations, boys." Burt said stiffly. "You were great."

"Thanks." Kurt and Blaine said in unison, in the same small voice.

Burt fixed them both with a stare for a few long seconds before bringing up the subject Kurt had been dreading – his Dad had never been one to dance around something that needed to be discussed.

"So how long have you two been dating exactly?"

Kurt glanced sideways at Blaine, who shot him a 'just tell the truth' look. "Three weeks."

His Dad didn't reply immediately and Kurt chanced a quick look at his expression, expecting to see him looking furious at how long Kurt had kept this from him and how often Kurt had lied right to his face about his relationship with Blaine, but his Dad's face was still impassive which scared Kurt even more.

"Want to explain why I found out about you two from a girl I've hardly ever spoken to and who Kurt hasn't been friendly with in months?" Burt's voice was steely calm and Kurt had a sudden, vivid mental image of walking on a sheet of thin ice which could crack at any moment.

Kurt fixed his eyes on a point behind his Dad's left shoulder as he spoke, unable to meet his eyes. "I'm so sorry, Dad I screwed up again. I was so used to not telling you anything, to keeping everything a secret from you. And when I started being able to talk to you again I didn't want to tell you because I knew you wouldn't allow Blaine to spend the night at our house if I did and I wouldn't be able to spend any time alone with Blaine, you would barely let me be alone with Blaine when you thought we were just friends."

"Wait, you two aren't-" Burt sounded a little panicked. "You aren't-"

Blaine caught on to what Burt was trying to say before Kurt did. "We're not sleeping together, Mr. Hummel."

Kurt shot a quick look at his Dad before looking away again, his eyes darting around the room, his cheeks flaming.

Burt coughed. "Right...well, good you shouldn't- you don't want to be rushing into- into that sort of thing."

None of them spoke for a minute, and Kurt watched the last few audience members leave the building to avoid looking at his Dad.

"I can't say I'm not disappointed in you, Kurt." His Dad said suddenly, causing Kurt to snap his gaze to him. "Because I'm _very_ disappointed. I thought when you told me about the curse and everything you went through those four years that you were finally back to being open and honest with me, but I was wrong. After all that you _still_ kept secrets from me and lied to me."

Kurt hung his head in shame, tears burning the backs of his eyes.

"Although I probably shouldn't given everything that has happened, I do approve of you dating my son, Blaine."

Kurt looked up so fast he almost cricked his neck. His Dad was looking at Blaine, who was meeting his gaze apprehensively, biting the inside of his bottom lip.

"But I saw the way you were on that stage earlier, you could clearly see how much you two care about each other and I haven't seen Kurt this happy in years as he is when he is with you, Blaine." He paused. "Just promise me you'll take good care of my son."

"Always." Blaine said, his voice a little choked.

Burt smiled at him. "Good." He glanced between Kurt and Blaine. "I have to get going, congratulations again. I'll talk to you later, Kurt and I'm sure I'll see you again soon, Blaine." He smiled at the two boys, clapped Kurt on the shoulder and left.

Kurt watched his Dad pull open the doors and then he dropped Blaine's hand and ran after him, catching him just outside the doors. He threw his arms around him, hugging him tightly. "Thank you, Dad."

Burt returned his son's embrace. "For what?"

Kurt buried his head in his Dad's chest. "For giving Blaine your approval – it meant a lot to him – and for just being a great Dad."

"No problem, kiddo." Burt said. He stepped back when Kurt dropped his arms from around him. "Your friends must be wondering where you and Blaine are. I'll call you during the week, ok? Love you."

"Love you too, Dad." Kurt smiled and watched his Dad turn and head off to where his car was parked before going back inside to Blaine. 

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **I don't want to say too much in case some of you guys avoid all spoilers, but I'm so excited for the next episode of Glee!

Thanks again to everyone reading, reviewing, and favouriting!

There's one more chapter of this story to go which will be posted on Sunday and after that there is just the epilogue :)


	20. Chapter 19

"Always, huh?"

Blaine raised his head up from Kurt's lap. He was lying on his back on Kurt's bed reading the novel they had been assigned to read for English but wasn't taking much of it in as Kurt was running his fingers lightly through his hair. He peered up at his boyfriend's face. "What?"

Kurt had been wearing a small smirk, but it disappeared when Blaine met his eyes and he hesitated before he replied. "Yesterday when we were talking to my Dad and he told you to take care of me, yo- you said 'always'." Kurt was avoiding Blaine's eyes now.

Blaine reached for Kurt's hand. "I meant it." He said softly. "I know we're young and lots of teenagers probably think this when they're in love for the first time, but I can't imagine myself being with anyone but you."

Kurt's eyes met Blaine's again and Blaine could see the tears forming in them – he was feeling a little teary himself. Kurt smiled down at him, squeezing his hand. "Me either." Kurt whispered.

"I-" Now Blaine was the one faltering. "I sometimes think about the future, imagine us living together in New York."

Kurt bent down to kiss him, his lips lingering on Blaine's before he pulled back slightly so there were only a few inches between their lips. "And we'll fight over the bathroom in the morning because, even though I've managed to cut you back on the gel, we both need lots of time to do our hair."

Blaine's face felt like it would split, his smile was so big. "But I'll always give in and let you have the bathroom first and have breakfast ready for when you come out."

Kurt moved his head closer to Blaine until there was only a sliver of air separating their lips. "Then I'll kiss you and tell you that I love you." He closed the space between their mouths and kissed Blaine. When he pulled back he gazed down at Blaine with so much love that Blaine felt like his heart would swell up and burst. He felt his eyes watering up more, sometimes he couldn't believe he had Kurt, a couple of years ago he never dreamt he would ever have someone love him like Kurt did –that he'd ever fall in love.

"I love you." Blaine said, his voice choked with his unshed tears.

Kurt's lips met Blaine's again, putting his unspoken response into the kiss.

* * *

><p>Kurt was hurrying along the corridor with Trent, both of them complaining about how Wes wanted them to start thinking of songs for Regionals to 'get a head start on the competition'.<p>

"Mr. Hummel?"

Kurt and Trent both turned to find Ms. Price standing by her office door.

"I'll see you in class, Trent." Kurt smiled at the other boy and watched him continue down the corridor before returning his gaze warily to Ms. Price. The History teacher waited until a large group of students passed before she spoke. "I haven't had a chance to talk to you since that night as you've been so busy with the Warblers – congratulations on your win by the way."

Kurt smiled briefly. "Thanks."

Ms. Price squinted up at him, looking concerned. "How have you been since you found out the curse was false? Are you coping alright?"

He nodded. "I told my Dad the truth about everything that happened and our relationship has improved and I'm re-building my friendships with people from my old school." He paused. "It hasn't been easy, and I still struggle sometimes with being able to act myself again, but Blaine has been helping me and I'm getting used to not being cursed – or believing I was.

"I'm glad you are. I was worried when you took off out of my room like that." Ms. Price smiled at him. "I'll let you get to class." She glanced around the almost deserted corridor and lowered her voice. "But if you ever need to talk about your experience with the demon you are more than welcome to come and see me."

"Thanks." Kurt told her, knowing that he would never take her up on that offer. He never wanted to think about that demon and the mess it caused to his life again if he could help it. And he was getting better at not thinking about the whole ordeal, it had been a while since he last woke up – drenched in sweat and gasping for breath – in the middle of the night after his sleep had been haunted by images of a snarling dark red demon standing over the body of his Dad or Blaine, and he hadn't flinched away from Blaine's touch in around two weeks now. Blaine had been fantastic, helping him out with his Dad and old friends, and being patient and understanding when Kurt would jerk away from him when he went to take his hand or kiss him before Kurt could remember that there was no curse on him preventing him from showing affection.

Kurt got to class seconds before the bell was due to ring. He slid into his seat next to Trent, muttering to him that Blaine had left one of his books in her class as his excuse for why Ms. Price wanted to talk to him.

As their teacher started the lesson, Kurt let his mind wander back to the phone conversation he'd had with his Dad the night before. His Dad had told him – both excitedly and a little nervously, unsure of how Kurt would take the news – that he had recently started dating a woman named Carole Hudson – Finn's mother. Kurt was happy for him, he knew his Dad loved his Mom, but that didn't mean he had to be alone for the rest of his life – Kurt had thought that he would have to suffer that fate and would never want his Dad to go through it. The conversation did give Kurt a lot to think about though; with his and Finn's parents dating he would likely be seeing quite a lot of the taller boy. His Dad had mentioned having Carole and Finn over for dinner one weekend Kurt was at home so that they could all get to know each other better. This meant that Kurt would have to go and see the New Directions, something he had been hoping to put off for a little longer. He had seen Finn briefly at Sectionals, but unless he wanted an extremely awkward dinner with him, his Mother, and his own Dad then he would have to talk to him properly and explain why he left McKinley so abruptly and why he treated everyone like shit before he left. However, he couldn't keep picking out individuals from his old school and trying to make amends with them one at a time, it was time he faced the whole of his old Glee club, including their teacher Mr. Schuester.

* * *

><p>Dalton had an afternoon off classes the next week, conveniently on a day on which Kurt knew the New Directions had Glee club after school. Knowing he was out of excuses for putting off going to visit them, Kurt decided to drive to Lima and go to McKinley during their Glee meeting. When Kurt told Blaine about his plans, Blaine offered to come with him and Kurt agreed to this suggestion, knowing that there was a good chance some of the New Directions wouldn't be so forgiving of him and so it would be a good idea to have Blaine there to support him and to give him the courage he needed.<p>

They visited Kurt's Dad at his work until it was time to head over to McKinley. Kurt and Blaine did the short drive to the school in silence, parked in the almost deserted car park, and made their way inside. Kurt had told Blaine that there was a chance they could run into some of the homophobes who had bullied him, and Blaine had told him that he would be careful to not show too much affection just in case, but Kurt was the one who had to stuff his hands into the pockets of his coat to prevent himself from taking Blaine's hand. Luckily they met no one as they made their way through the corridors to the choir room. As they neared the door, Kurt could hear Rachel's voice rising clearly above everyone else's as the group argued about something. He hesitated by the door, not particularly wanting to go in there in the middle of a disagreement and try to explain everything whilst they were all fired up and angry, but he wasn't going to back out now. Blaine smoothed his hand briefly over Kurt's and Kurt closed his eyes at his boyfriend's touch. Courage. He turned the handle.

The argument stopped as soon as Kurt and Blaine entered the choir room and everyone turned to stare at them. Rachel and Mercedes smiled, but everyone else looked shocked.

Mr. Schuester took a step towards him, frowning in confusion. "Kurt?" He sounded flummoxed.

Kurt cleared his throat. "Hi," his voice came out higher than normal, "I just thought I'd come here and-"

"And _what_, Hummel?" Santana interrupted, her eyes narrowed at him. "Have a cheery little catch-up? Reminisce about the good old days where you would sit in here with your fancy outfits – which I see you've traded for a prep boy uniform – and insult and ignore us?"

Kurt shook his head. "No, I-"

Santana cut him off again. "I know I can be a bit of a bitch, Hummel but I've never taken it to the level you did, and you just started it out of the blue as well, didn't even build up to it. I thought you were just on your-"

Rachel stood up. "Santana _shut up_ and let Kurt explain!" She glared at the other girl.

"_Let him explain?_ Oh, so you've already heard his lame excuse and swallowed it have you?" Santana said, rounding on Rachel.

Rachel opened her mouth to argue but Mr. Schuester stopped them. "Guys, _enough_! Let's just hear what Kurt has to say."

Kurt cleared his throat again, shooting Mr. Schuester a grateful smile. "I know I was horrible to you all, but I am _really_ sorry for that and for just transferring schools without telling any of you." Santana rolled her eyes and shook her head disbelievingly at him but Kurt ignored her. "I've already told Rachel and Mercedes this, but the reason I was behaving like that was because I was being bullied so badly that I became very depressed and angry with the whole world."

He carefully watched the reactions of everyone hearing this story for the first time as he explained it all to them. Mr. Schuester looked especially troubled, Santana was watching him with an eyebrow raised but her expression had softened.

When he finished talking Mr. Schuester dropped his head into his hands. "How could I have missed this happening? I knew you were being picked on, but-" He broke off, raising his head to look at Kurt. "I'm sorry, Kurt I'm your teacher, I should have been able to help you with this, you should feel safe at school."

"Well, I do now; Dalton Academy has a zero-tolerance bullying policy."

Mr. Schuester nodded.

"So who was it that was making your life hell?" Puck spoke up from where he was sitting next to Finn. He cracked his knuckles menacingly. "I'll teach them a lesson!"

"_Puck_-" Mr. Schuester started warningly.

Kurt cut him off, shaking his head at Puck. "I'm not giving names. You can't beat the homophobe out of them and I've moved on from that stage in my life, I don't want to bring it up again."

Puck looked disappointed but didn't say anything more about it.

"But, Kurt surely you want the people who did that to you, who caused you to feel that worthless and depressed, to pay for what they did?" Finn looked a little confused. "Even if you don't want to do what Puck said, shouldn't you at least tell Principal Figgins so he can, I don't know, suspend them or something?"

Mr. Schuester frowned. "That's a good point; did you mention any of this to Principal Figgins? We need to make sure none of this happens again."

Kurt glanced at Blaine who smiled sympathetically. He dropped his eyes to the floor. "I did tell him – I told him when I was doing my transfer – but he said as there was no actual evidence, just what I had told him, he couldn't do anything about it."

Nobody said anything to this and Kurt could feel all their eyes on him. He wanted to leave now, wanted to go back to Dalton with Blaine, curl up with him on his bed, watch a movie, and forget about all this. What did it _really _matter if a bunch of people he would only ever see at show choir competitions didn't like him? Why did they _have_ to forgive him? He had Blaine and all his other friends at Dalton now, and he was friends with Mercedes and Rachel (who he had forgiven for letting slip a secret to his Dad), and that was all that mattered. He could deal with Finn outside of the New Directions. It wasn't like their parents were getting married and he had to live with him, they were just dating, he didn't have to be best friends with him.

"Um, Kurt?"

Kurt raised his eyes to see Tina looking at him a little apprehensively. "Yeah?"

"I was just wondering who your friend was." She said, indicating Blaine with a wave of her hand.

"Oh," Kurt glanced over at Blaine who stepped forward until he was standing next to Kurt.

Blaine smiled at the group. "I'm Blaine, Kurt's boyfriend." He took Kurt's hand and Kurt felt a surge of love for Blaine at the pride and affection in his voice when he announced his relationship with Kurt.

A bunch of comments of how glad people were to see Kurt so happy and how adorable a couple Kurt and Blaine made followed Blaine's announcement, Santana's voice carrying clearly above everyone else's.

"Wanky!"

Kurt rolled his eyes, but couldn't keep the smile off his face as the members of his old Glee club hurried over to him and began asking about Dalton, complimenting their performance at Sectionals, and telling him stories of things that had happened since he had left McKinley. It was almost as if they had never stopped being friends. Even Santana forgave him, saying that she would let him off this time as she understood it hadn't been easy for him, but if he tried it again, she would take her own insults and bitchy comments up a level. Kurt caught Blaine's eye at one point and he gave Kurt a knowing smile. The last thing tying him to the experience with the demon was dealt with, he could move on with his life.

* * *

><p>"Remember how I said Rachel was scary?" Blaine traced one of Kurt's veins down his inner arm from the crook of his elbow to his wrist with a fingertip.<p>

Kurt hummed without opening his eyes; he nuzzled against Blaine's neck.

"I take that back, she's nothing compared to some of the others in New Directions."

Kurt chuckled, sending vibrations through Blaine's body. "Which ones?"

Blaine lightly drew a circle on Kurt's wrist. "Santana and Puck."

Kurt laughed softly again. "Yeah, they take a bit of getting used to."

Blaine closed his eyes as well, enjoying the feeling of being with Kurt, of feeling his breath against his neck and their bodies touching, of hearing his steady breathing, and knowing that he and Kurt loved each other.

"I still can't believe Wes did that." Kurt shifted slightly, lifting a hand to caress Blaine's chest.

When Wes had sat down at the Warbler table for dinner earlier he had loudly – so everyone at their table along with a good number of other boarders heard – suggested that Kurt and Blaine sing 'It's Getting Hot In Here' at the next Warbler meeting as he thought it was a good choice for them as long as they didn't act out the lyrics like they had been in his room a few weeks ago. Everyone had laughed whilst Wes had smirked wickedly at them. Kurt had buried his face in Blaine's shoulder, his cheeks on fire, and Blaine – as red-faced as Kurt – had scowled at Wes and warned him that he would get him back for this.

Blaine opened his eyes, his face feeling hot again at the memory. "So much for the slim chance that he was scarred for life." He felt Kurt smile against his shoulder and Blaine turned his head to press a kiss to his forehead. Kurt lifted his head and captured Blaine's lips with his.

"He's just jealous he doesn't have what we have." Kurt said when they broke apart.

"He is," Blaine agreed, leaning back in for another kiss, his mind and body thrilling at what he had with a boy he never thought could possibly exist. 

* * *

><p>AN: Well that was rather fluffy :)

I don't know what was up with the site when I posted the last chapter, but I only got the email that the chapter was posted on Saturday even though I posted it on Thursday…who knows, hopefully it's fixed now.

Just the epilogue to come, it will be posted on Tuesday!


	21. Epilogue

_1 year later._

"I can't believe we're finally here!" Kurt spun in a slow circle in the middle of the apartment's main living area, beaming at everything from the bare wooden floorboards to the view of a New York street outside the window.

The thump of bags hitting the floor caused Kurt to turn and face the front door again. Blaine had just dumped a pile of bags just inside the doorway next to the stacks of boxes that had arrived yesterday. Blaine smiled teasingly at him. "It's ok, you just stand there and admire the view, and I'll bring all our stuff up."

Kurt stuck his tongue out at him. "I'll help; I'm just- I just can't believe we're now living _here_, in New York, together."

Blaine came over to join him and Kurt wrapped an arm around his shoulders causing Blaine to lean against him. Blaine sighed in contentment. "When I told you what I wanted to do with my life after leaving school that time in the coffee shop it was just a dream I had, I never expected it to come true. But it has done more than come true, I never in my wildest dreams thought I'd be living my dream with you."

Kurt turned his head away from the window to look down at Blaine who was gazing up at him from where his head rested on Kurt's shoulder.

"On the way back to Dalton that day, things changed, my _dreams _changed, suddenly they all involved you, and it will always be like that now."

Kurt moved quickly until he was standing in front of Blaine, his arms around his neck, and his lips pressed against Blaine's in a passionate kiss. When he pulled away Blaine tried to follow his mouth. "I thought you wanted me to help bring our stuff up?" He laughed softly at the expression on his boyfriend's face. "We'll have plenty of time for this later."

* * *

><p>Blaine unzipped one of Kurt's suitcases that he had just sat down next to the others in the bedroom, took one look at the contents, and shook his head, an affectionate smile spreading across his face as he let the lid of the case fall shut. "You can unpack all your own clothes, Kurt. There's <em>no way<em> I'm doing it." He called through to the kitchen where Kurt had started to unpack all their pans and kitchen utensils.

"I wouldn't want you doing it anyway!" Kurt called back. "You don't know how I organise my clothes."

His smile widened at Kurt's response. Unzipping one of his own suitcases, he began to unpack and put away all his clothes. When he reached his bags of toiletries, he frowned. "Kurt?" He rummaged through the contents of one bag, pushing aside a can of shaving cream to see the rest of the bag's contents.

Kurt's voice called back from the kitchen. "Yeah?"

Tossing aside the bag he was holding, Blaine picked up another one and began searching through it, still frowning at the contents."Do you know what happened to all my hair gel? I can only find one tub." He threw some deodorant out of the bag to see the items hidden beneath it. "I thought I put it all with the rest of my toiletries, but it's not here." He searched fruitlessly for a little longer, then he realised Kurt still hadn't replied. "Kurt?"

"I _may_ have taken most of your gel out of you bag after you had finished packing."

Blaine spun around to see Kurt standing in the doorway of their bedroom, looking slightly sheepish. "What? Why?"

Kurt walked further into the room until he reached Blaine. "Because you wear too much gel." He touched Blaine's hair, letting a few loose curls slide through his fingers. "And your hair looks _so much_ better without it. I'm not saying you should stop wearing it completely, just use less of it." He added after seeing the look on Blaine's face.

"I guess I could do that." Blaine said, only a little grudgingly. He knew how much Kurt loved his hair curly and he supposed it wouldn't look _too_ bad with only a small amount of gel in it. Besides, he had been gelling his hair like that for years now; it was about time for a change.

Kurt beamed at him. "Great!" He gave Blaine a quick kiss on the forehead before heading for the door. "Come help me unpack in the living room when you're finished." He added over his shoulder as he left the room.

* * *

><p>Kurt was only half-way through unpacking the first box when Blaine joined him in the living room.<p>

"You don't realise how much stuff you have until you move and have to unpack it all." Kurt commented as Blaine pulled a stack of books out of one of the boxes.

"You'll feel the same way about your clothes when you have to unpack all those suitcases of yours. I'm sure you'll find several outfits you've forgotten you owned."

Kurt shook his head, piling up the last of the DVDs and placing the stack beside the TV. "Like I said earlier, I have a _very_ organised closet." He lifted the next item out of the box, his smile fading and his face screwing up into a frown when he saw what it was. "Blaine, this isn't yours is it?"

Blaine looked up from unwrapping some framed photographs from tissue paper. He examined the object in Kurt's hands. "No," he said slowly. He met Kurt's eyes and Kurt could see the same emotions and memories he was experiencing filling them.

Kurt ran his fingers over the wooden box in his hands, his fingers skimming over spots where the wood had been worn smooth with age. He remembered another box, remembered opening it curiously, remembered the years of self-torture and misery that followed.

"Kurt?" Blaine was suddenly in front of him, but he barely noticed, he was so deep in his own memories. The carvings on this box were different, as was the clasp, and just by running a finger over the clasp, he could tell it would open easily unlike the one that had been on the box in his attic.

A hand came down on top of his where it hovered in front of the clasp, his fingertips just brushing the metal. He looked up and met Blaine's concerned gaze.

"Kurt?" Blaine's eyes worriedly searched Kurt's. "Maybe it isn't what we're thinking, maybe there's another explanation." Blaine pulled his phone out of his pocket. "I'm going to call Finn and see if it is his. We were all packing at the same time, there is a chance something of his accidentally ended up in one of our boxes. Just don't open the box, just in case." He began dialling.

Kurt had no intention of opening the box – there was no way he would risk turning his world upside down again – he just couldn't believe this was happening again. But, maybe it wasn't, maybe Blaine was right; maybe there was a completely innocent explanation – maybe.

"Hey, Finn I have a quick question for you." Blaine's face scrunched up in puzzlement for a moment. "_What?_ No."

Kurt watched Blaine's face smooth out again as he began to describe the box to Finn and explain to him that it had been packed in with their stuff but it wasn't theirs.

"It's not yours?"

Kurt's heart sank and he chewed his lip apprehensively, setting the box down on the floor and pushing it firmly away from him.

"Are you _sure_?" Blaine was saying. "Where else could it have come from?" A long pause and then Blaine spoke again and Kurt closed his eyes at Blaine words, relief flooding through him. "It _is_ yours? Why didn't you recognise it straight away if it is something that important?" The relief in Blaine's voice was huge and his shoulders had sagged with the extent of it. "Ok, well we can send it over to you or you can just get it when you come to visit."

There was a pause during which Kurt shook slightly from the magnitude of the relief he was feeling.

"Sure, that's fine. Give Burt and Carole our love. Thanks, Finn talk to you soon." Blaine hung up and joined Kurt where he had slid to the floor. He took one look at Kurt and pulled him into his arms. Kurt buried his head in Blaine's shoulder, breathing in the familiar smell of his boyfriend, and felt himself begin to calm down.

"Finn got the box from his Grandmother years ago," Blaine explained. "He uses it to keep money and other important stuff safe."

Kurt exhaled, shuddering. "I thought-"

"I know," Blaine tightened his hold on Kurt, "I thought that as well."

They stayed like that for several minutes until Kurt raised his head. "We had better get back to unpacking otherwise we'll never get it finished today."

Blaine brushed his lips against Kurt's cheek in a quick kiss before getting to his feet, holding out a hand for Kurt. Kurt took it and allowed Blaine to pull him to his feet.

"Are you alright to finish up in here? I'd better get started on my suitcases otherwise we'll be sleeping surrounded by my bags and cases."

Blaine smiled at him. "No problem."

* * *

><p>When Kurt woke the next morning he felt disoriented. His bed was facing the wrong way, the window was at the opposite side of the room than it normally was, and there was a warm body pressed against him and his Dad had <em>never<em> let him have Blaine sleep over – he and Blaine had only ever spent the night together when Blaine's parents had been away on business and when Burt and Carole had been on their honeymoon. Then it all came rushing back to him, he was living in New York now, with Blaine.

He felt Blaine shift next to him, his arm tightening around his waist slightly, and Kurt rolled over to face his boyfriend. He smiled softly as his eyes took in Blaine. Blaine was always beautiful, but when he slept he was absolutely breathtaking. It was partly how peaceful he looked, partly his ruffled curls, partly how his long eyelashes fanned across his cheeks, partly the way his lips were parted slightly, and partly the way he occasionally mumbled quietly and snuggled closer to Kurt. But it was mainly how nobody but Kurt had seen Blaine this way, had seen him curled up beside them with his eyes occasionally fluttering as he dreamed, had seen him this vulnerable, and had been there when his eyes opened for the first time that day. And Kurt had never wanted anything more than to experience this every day for the rest of his life.

Kurt had subconsciously begun running his fingers through Blaine's hair and he didn't know how long he lay there watching his boyfriend sleep whilst lazily trailing his fingers through Blaine's curls, but after a while Blaine shifted again and his eyes opened, a smile appearing on his face when he saw Kurt.

"Morning," he said, his voice a little rough with sleep.

Kurt closed the small distance between their lips and kissed Blaine softly. They broke apart and Kurt opened his eyes to gaze into Blaine's honey-coloured ones. "Morning."

They were silent for an indefinite period of time, just gazing at each other, one of Kurt's hands still playing idly with Blaine's hair whilst Blaine rubbed Kurt's hip with his thumb. Blaine entwined the fingers of their other hands.

"I love you."

Kurt's smile grew wider in an almost mirror-image of the smile on Blaine's face. "I love you too."

Still smiling, Blaine brushed his lips against Kurt's and Kurt knew that Blaine wanted this as much as he did, that they would both always want to wake up together, for the rest of their lives.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Stories with fluffy endings are the best.

The part with them waking up together is one of my favourite scenes in the whole story.

Well, that's it dear readers. Huge, huge thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, favourited, and put this story on their alerts. I would have been over the moon with just a couple of readers, but the response was amazing.

I just want to say where the inspiration for this story came from, a few readers have figured it out already, but it was inspired by a storyline in The Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare. I didn't mention this until now as I didn't want to give any of the story away.

For anyone who is interested, here's a short preview of my next Klaine story which I'll start posting when I get back from Florida in a little over 2 weeks time. The story is called 'Where the lines overlap' and this excerpt comes from mid-way through the 1st chapter:

"_Sorry." A voice said as someone jostled him slightly when they struggled to stand beside Kurt in the wave of people cramming on the train._

_Kurt turned to glance at the source of the voice, planning on shooting them a quick smile in response to their apology, but ending up gazing at them for several seconds longer than he intended as he met the bright hazel eyes of the person standing next to him. _

_He was stunningly attractive with dark, curly hair, tanned skin, long eyelashes, and a wide, infectious smile. He looked to be a few years younger than Kurt, but he suspected the slicked back hair, bowtie and sweater combination, and short stature made him look younger than he was. _

"_It's fine," he squeaked, inwardly wincing at how high his voice sounded._

_Bowtie guy smiled at him before turning his attention to the paperback he was holding as the train pulled away from the station. _


End file.
